OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper is to review the recent literature on vesicular drug delivery systems containing curcumin.

METHODS: We have collated and summarized various recent attempts made to develop different controlled release drug delivery systems containing curcumin which would be of great interest for herbal, formulation and biological scientists. There are several vesicular nanotechnological techniques involving curcumin which have been studied recently, targeting pulmonary diseases.

RESULTS: Different vesicular systems containing curcumin are being studied for their therapeutic potential in different respiratory diseases. There has been a renewed interest in formulations containing curcumin recently, primarily owing to the broad spectrum therapeutic potential of this miracle substance. Various types of formulations, containing curcumin, targeting different bodily systems have recently emerged and, nevertheless, the search for newer frontiers with this drug goes on.

OBJECTIVE: Nano-medicine provides the same efficacies as traditional medicines owing to their improved solubility and bioavailability with reduced dosages. However, there are currently safety concerns due to the difficulties related to nanomaterial characterization; this might be the reason for unawareness of such medicines among the patients. The absence of clear regulatory guidelines further complicates matters, as it makes the path to registering them with regulatory bodies difficult. However, some products have overcome these obstacles and have been registered. While there are many international initiatives to harmonize the regulatory requirements and helps the industry to determine the most important characteristics that influence in vivo product performance.