Boosting Curcumin Bioavailability: Unveiling the Potential of Sodium Caseinate Nanoparticle Microneedle Patches

ABSTRACT Curcumin is a well‐known anti‐obesity compound with limited clinical application due to its poor bioavailability at the target site. Hence, we hypothesized that the curcumin sodium caseinate nanoparticles (CNC) loaded in microneedle patches (MNPs) may improve curcumin bioavailability. The CNC were prepared with a microemulsion technique using clove oil, sodium caseinate to form nanoparticles and PEG 400 as a stabilizer and exhibited smaller particle size (100–250 nm) and polydispersity index (0.201) with higher zeta potential (−45 mV) and entrapment efficiency (90%–95%). The CNC improved solubility, bioaccessibility (7.2 fold) and bioavailability (2.6 fold) compared to native curcumin. Further, the CNC‐loaded MNPs were developed by the micro‐molding and displayed a slow and controlled release of curcumin with superior bioavailability in the plasma (200 ng/mL) and adipose (435 ng/mL) tissue of C57BL6 mice. Overall, the study advocates the novel CNC‐loaded MNPs as a potential curcumin delivery tool for treating obesity.