Preparation, characterization and antitumor activity of a cationic starch-derivative membrane embedded with a β-cyclodextrin/curcumin inclusion complex.

A membrane of cationic starch-derivative/poly(vinyl alcohol) was prepared and utilized as a support to immobilize a β-cyclodextrin/curcumin inclusion complex. The resulting material (denote as β-CD/CUR-MBN) was characterized in detail by different techniques. In vitro experiments revealed that β-CD/CUR-MBN enables the controlling of the curcumin release process, which is guided by the relaxation of the polymer matrix. Moreover, cytotoxic assays were performed to investigate the effect of β-CD/CUR-MBN on two cancer cell lines (melanoma and glioblastoma). The results showed that the polymeric membrane exerts higher cytotoxicity against these cells than free curcumin. Also, β-CD/CUR-MBN exerted a prolonged cytotoxic effect (up to 96 h), even using a low concentration (50 μg mL-1), indicating that the curcumin in the polymeric membrane showed increased bioavailability under the tested condition. β-CD/CUR-MBN was non-cytotoxic against normal cells suggesting a specific action of this material against target cancer cells. The results reported here allow ranks β-CD/CUR-MBN as a promising biomaterial to act as a local drug delivery system to treat cancer.