Improvements in Phytochemical-Based Drug Delivery Systems

This chapter will be focusing on the improvement of phytochemical-based drug delivery systems and identifies potential application studies mainly as a pharmaceutical nanotechnology for better therapeutic efficiency. Phytochemicals show extensive pharmacological activities that stand against a large variety of approaches to prevent human diseases; however, Several obstacles restrict their clinical use, such as low solubility and poor stability in biological systems. To overcome these issues, multiple nanocarriers have been developed including polymeric nanoparticles (NPs), solid lipid NPs (SLNs) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLcs), liposomes, niosomes, dendrimers and micelles. Nanocarriers offer protection against degradation of phytochemicals, enhance their solubility, and ensure controlled release of the bioactive chemicals, thereby improving its absorption and therapeutic efficacy. For example, curcumin packed PLGA nanoparticles, resveratrol enclosed chitosan nanoparticles, and quercetin-loaded SLNs exhibited improved solubility stability in addition to bioavailability which lead the superior benefit over cancerous cells anticancer agents along with cardiovascular cardioprotective impact or counteracts inflammation and mitigation oxidative stress. In addition to these, liposomal and niosomal formulations of curcumin, resveratrol, and berberine also exhibited enhanced stability as well as increased targeted delivery thereby enhancing their therapeutic efficacy. Both dendrimers and micelles impart their own unique advantages, such that the stability and bioavailability of curcumin with EGCG using a dendrimer-based formulation is greatly increased while delivery efficacy could be enhanced by a well-accepted trans-resveratrol-containing nanomicellar-based dietary supplement complexed with quercetin. These delivery system inventions highlight the capability of nanotechnology in bypassing the challenges phytochemicals confront with and open a new gateway to further utilization of those natural products for treating various diseases. This chapter stresses the need for further exploration and development of such nanotechnology-based phytochemical delivery systems in order to achieve maximum therapeutic benefits.