Microparticulate and nanotechnology mediated drug delivery system for the delivery of herbal extracts

Abstract

There has been a growing interest in the scientific community to explore the complete potential of phytoconstituents, herbal or plant-based ingredients owing to a range of benefits they bring along. The herbal plants accommodate many phytoconstituents that are responsible for various activities such as anti-oxidant, antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, hepatoprotective, etc. However, these phytoconstituents are highly sensitive to several environmental and physiological factors such as pH, oxygen, heat, temperature, humidity, stomach acid, enzymes, and light. Hence, there is need for the development of a drug delivery system that can protect the phytoconstituents from both internal and external conditions. In this regard, a microparticulate drug delivery system is considered amongst the ideal choice owing to its small size, ability to protect the environment-sensitive active constituents, in achieving sustained drug delivery, targeted drug delivery, protection of the drug from physiological conditions, minimizing drug-related side effects, etc.

Keywords:

• Microspheres
• phytoconstituents
• herbal
• novel drug delivery
• microcapsules

Disclosure statement

There is no conflict of interest and disclosures associated with the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

The author (P. Kesharwani) acknowledges the financial support from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi, India, through Extramural Research Grants [35/10/2019-Nano/BMS and 5/13/8/2020/NCD-III].