Role of Chitosan Characteristics on the Properties of Curcumin-Loaded Carriers and Their Potential Application in Ophthalmologic Infection Therapy

This study is a comparative investigation of the activity of unloaded and curcumin-loaded oil-in-water emulsion or chitosan-based capsules on rabbit retinal cells (RRC), coronavirus HCoV-OC43, and virus HSV-1 virus in relation to their potential ophthalmologic applications. The carriers are developed by using well-established experimental procedures. The characterization of their surface properties and stability in simulated ocular fluids (tear fluid, aqueous humor, and vitreous humor) is performed using the dynamic light scattering method and UV–vis spectrophotometry. In vitro tests are performed to determine the cytotoxicity and phototoxicity of pure curcumin (CR) and selected CR-containing carriers on RRC. The effect of the unloaded and CR-loaded carriers on the antiviral activity, the behavior of the extracellular virions, and the influence on viral adsorption is evaluated against coronavirus HCoV-OC43 and HSV-1 virus by using suitable microbiological assays. In accordance with the obtained experimental results, the toxicity of carriers containing CR is significantly reduced compared to pure compound and unloaded carriers. Moreover, the activity of the unloaded carriers can be increased several times by incorporating CR. The experimental results demonstrate that the variation in the properties of even one component of the structural composition can provoke the different activity of the carriers.