{
  "abstract": "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.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico; (J.d.J.M.-G.); (L.R.-G.); (A.G.-F.)",
    "Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind, Brain, and Behavior Institute, Columbia University, Jerome L. Greene Science Center, 3227 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, USA;",
    "Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico;",
    "Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico;",
    "Departamento de Farmacia, Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Mexico City 04510, Mexico;",
    "Escuela de Ingenieria y Ciencias, Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Ciudad de Mexico, C. Puente 222, Mexico City 14380, Mexico;"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "José de Jesús Martínez-González"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Lucero Reyes-García"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Alberto Guevara-Flores"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Martín Escamilla-del-Arenal"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Rachel Austin Duffié"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Gabriela Nava-Balderas"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Gerardo Leyva-Gómez"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "María Luisa Del Prado-Audelo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Irene Patricia del Arenal Mena"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/82nyapg28gnmm.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/antiox15101226",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13700812/?tool=EBI",
  "id": "82nyapg28gnmm",
  "issns": [
    "2076-3921"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13700812",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "lcc",
      "RM1-950"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2734|Parasitic infections in humans and animals"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214092397",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13700812/pdf/?tool=EBI",
  "pmcid": "PMC13700812",
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-01",
  "publisher": "MDPI AG",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/82nyapg28gnmm.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:51Z",
      "native_id": "PMC:PMC13700812",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13700812"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-31T14:21:21Z",
      "native_id": "071e8169a8fd4c6397e80f2e24cce343",
      "source": "doaj",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox15101226"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "lcc:RM1-950",
      "subfield": "pharmacology-toxicology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Nanoencapsulation Transforms Curcumin’s Antiparasitic Activity: Reduced Dose and Altered Mechanism in Taenia crassiceps Cysticerci",
  "title_text": "Nanoencapsulation Transforms Curcumin’s Antiparasitic Activity: Reduced Dose and Altered Mechanism in Taenia crassiceps Cysticerci",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-31T14:21:21Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/82nyapg28gnmm",
  "venue": "Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland)",
  "versions": []
}