Nanoencapsulation Transforms Curcumin’s Antiparasitic Activity: Reduced Dose and Altered Mechanism in Taenia crassiceps Cysticerci

Free curcumin has been shown to have a lethal effect on Taenia crassiceps cysticerci, due to its ability to interfere with the parasite’s redox metabolism. Free curcumin is highly unstable, which limits its bioavailability and reduces its efficacy as an anthelmintic drug. To overcome these constraints, we evaluated the use of Polycaprolactone-Pluronic©-F68 nanoparticles (PCL/F68 NPs) to improve curcumin stability for in vitro administration against cysticerci. Our results indicate that PCL/F68 NPs effectively protect curcumin in an aqueous medium, and after 120 h incubation with 10 µM curcumin-loaded NPs, cysticerci mortality was 100%. In contrast to free curcumin, whose cysticidal activity is associated with increased ROS production, disruption of the parasitic thioredoxin antioxidant system, and tegumental damage, curcumin-loaded NPs induced cysticerci mortality in the absence of these effects and were instead associated with profound nucleolar alterations, implicating nucleolar dysfunction as a potential mediator of parasite death. The reduced dose, increased bioavailability and enhanced antiparasitic efficacy suggest that PCL/F68-CUR NPs offer a promising therapeutic strategy for treatment of cysticercosis.