Curcumin as an antioxidant natural herb has shown numerous pharmacological effects. However, the poor bioavailability of curcumin is a significant pharmacological barrier for its antioxidant activities. The present study was conducted to develop curcumin-loaded nanophytosome (CNP) and explore their therapeutic potential in a ketamine (KET)-induced schizophrenia (SCZ) model. The mice in our experiment were treated orally with curcumin and CNP (20 mg/kg) for 30 consecutive days. In addition, the animals received intraperitoneal injection of KET (30 mg/kg/day) from the 16th to the 30th day. SCZ-like behaviors were evaluated employing forced swimming test (FST), open field test (OFT), and novel object recognition test (NORT), and oxidative stress markers in the brain were estimated. Our results revealed that CNP has a greater neuroprotective effect compared to free curcumin. CNP pretreatment significantly ameliorated KET-induced brain injury evidenced by a marked reduction in the depressive and anxiety-like behaviors, memory deficits, and oxidative stress markers in cortical and subcortical tissues. Therefore, CNP, as a suitable drug delivery system, may improve curcumin bioavailability and confer stronger neuroprotective effects against KET-induced behavioral deficits and oxidative damages.

姜黄素作为一种抗氧化的天然草药已显示出许多药理作用。然而，姜黄素较差的生物利用度是其抗氧化活性的重要药理障碍。本研究旨在开发负载姜黄素的纳米植物体 (CNP) 并探索其在氯胺酮 (KET) 诱导的精神分裂症 (SCZ) 模型中的治疗潜力。我们实验中的小鼠连续 30 天口服姜黄素和 CNP（20 mg/kg）。此外，动物在第 16 天至第 30 天接受腹腔注射 KET (30 mg/kg/天)。采用强迫游泳测试 (FST)、旷场测试 (OFT) 和新物体识别测试 (NORT) 评估 SCZ 样行为，并估计大脑中的氧化应激标记。我们的结果表明，与游离姜黄素相比，CNP 具有更大的神经保护作用。CNP 预处理显着改善了 KET 诱导的脑损伤，其证据是皮质和皮质下组织中的抑郁和焦虑样行为、记忆缺陷和氧化应激标志物显着减少。因此，CNP 作为一种合适的药物递送系统，可以提高姜黄素的生物利用度，并对 KET 诱导的行为缺陷和氧化损伤产生更强的神经保护作用。