OBJECTIVE The study aims to evaluate intranasal(i.n.)curcumin at 5mg·kg-1,its absorption through nasal mucosa reaching blood and lungs and investigate its anti-allergic and anti-asthmatic potentiality in ameliorating ovalbumin induced asthma in mouse model.METHODS A simple and sensitive high performance liquid chromatography method using UV detection(HPLC-UV)was developed and validated for the determination of nasal curcumin 5mg·kg-1 in nasal mucosa,plasma and lungs from 15min-6hof post dosing and further applied to determine the pharmacokinetics parameter.Further,for the anti-asthmatic study,BALB/c mice were sensitized(day 1,7and 14)and challenged with ovalbumin(day 19-22)and treated with intranasal curcumin 5mg·kg-1(in the form of nasal drops)before an hour of challenge(day 19-22)to investigate its therapeutic effect on various parameters of airway inflammation as detected in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid,serum and lung tissue.Serum was also used to study the liver kidney function test for the toxicity.RESULTS The validated method of HPLC was sensitive with a lower limit of quantitation of 5μg·mL-1 and the calibration curve represented good linearity(r2≥0.999)over the linear range of 5-50μg·mL-1.HPLC study reveals,absorption and quantification of curcumin as 1.9μg·mL-1 in the nasal mucosal scrapping at 15 min elevating to 4.9μg·mL-1 till 1h and declining to 3.2μg·mL-1 till 3h after intranasal administration of curcumin(5mg·kg-1).The plasma showed 0.9μg·mL-1 after 15 min spiking upto 1.5μg·mL-1 till 3h while lung homogenate retained up to 3.6μg·mL-1 of curcumin till 3h,which was detectable from 15min(0.27μg·mL-1)and was on higher side as compared to earlier studies.The same pharmacological dose(5mg·kg-1,i.n.)has shown anti-asthmatic potential by inhibiting airway inflammation(eosinophilic inflammation),bronchoconstriction and modulation in cytokines level of Th2(IL-4,IL-5),Th1(IFN-γ)and proinflammatory(TNF-α)cytokines in ovalbumin induced asthma without having any side effect as detected by liver kidney function test.CONCLUSION The study reveals nasal mucosa as a viable route for the absorption of intranasal curcumin and accommodating increased transportation to the blood and lungs.Also,the nasal route is effective in retaining the level of curcumin till 6h without any degradation and hence could be a promising route to improve its biological activities.Present study may prove the possibility of curcumin as complementary medication in the development of nasal drops or through nebulizer in human subjects.Further,pharmacodynamic study is in progress to prove its effectiveness not only in pulmonary disorders but also for systemic disorders. OBJECTIVE The study aims to evaluate intranasal (in) curcumin at 5 mg · kg -1, its absorption through nasal mucosa reaching blood and lungs and investigate its anti-allergic and anti-asthmatic potentiality in ameliorating ovalbumin induced asthma in mouse model. METHODS A simple and sensitive high performance liquid chromatography using UV detection (HPLC-UV) was developed and validated for the determination of nasal curcumin 5 mg · kg -1 in nasal mucosa, plasma and lungs from 15 min-6hof post dosing and further applied to determine the pharmacokinetics (Day 19 and 14) and challenged with ovalbumin (day 19-22) and treated with intranasal curcumin 5 mg · kg-1 (in the form of nasal before the hour of challenge (day 19-22) to investigate its therapeutic effect on various parameters of airway inflammation as detected in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, serum and lung tissue. Serum was also used to study the liver kidney funct ion test for the toxicity. RESULTS The validated method of HPLC was sensitive with a lower limit of quantitation of 5 μg · mL-1 and the calibration curve represented good linearity (r2 ≥ 0.999) over the linear range of 5-50 μg · mL-1 . HPLC study reveals, absorption and quantification of curcumin as 1.9 μg · mL -1 in the nasal mucosal scrapping at 15 min elevating to 4.9 μg · mL -1 till 1 h and declining to 3.2 μg · mL -1 till 3 h after intranasal administration of curcumin (5 mg · kg-1). The plasma showed 0.9 μg · mL-1 after 15 min spiking upto 1.5 μg · mL-1 till 3 h while the lung homogenate retained up to 3.6 μg · mL-1 of curcumin till 3 h, which was detectable from 15 min (0.27 μg · mL-1) and was on higher side as compared to earlier studies. the same pharmacological dose (5 mg · kg-1, in) has shown anti-asthmatic potential by inhibiting airway inflammation (eosinophilic inflammation) bronchoconstriction and modulation in cytokines level of Th2 (IL-4, IL-5), Th1 (IFN-γ) and proinflammatory (TNF-α) cytokines in ovalbumin indu ced asthma without having any side effect as detected by liver kidney function test. CONCLUSION The study reveals nasal mucosa as a viable route for the absorption of intranasal curcumin and including increased transportation to the blood and lungs.Also, the nasal route is effective in retaining the level of curcumin till 6h without any degradation and therefore could be a promising route to improve its biological activities. Present study may prove the possibility of curcumin as remedy in the development of nasal drops or through nebulizer in human subjects. Further, pharmacodynamic study is in progress to prove its effectiveness not only in pulmonary disorders but also for systemic disorders.