Biopharmaceutics and Biologic Drugs

Drug Delivery from Plant Extracts

Nanotechnology has been increasingly employed in drug delivery as it increases the drug dissolution rate, leading to enhanced drug absorption and bioavailability. Many nanostructures have been proposed for drug delivery, each one having their own advantages and drawbacks. This manuscript revises the use of lipid- and polymer-based nanostructures in the association of different extract, establishing a relation between the type of Nano systems and its preparation method to the different plant extracts and most abundant compounds. Depending on the method of extraction, plant extracts can contain an enormous variety of active molecules, such as phenolic compounds, essential oils, alkaloids, among others. In many cases, from a pharmacological point of view, it is interesting to work with crude extract or fractions instead of a single isolated compound. In any case, in order to achieve a final product some issues must be overcome, including poor stability, solvent toxicity, and low solubility of the bioactive compound.

• Plant extracts toxicity
• in vitro and in vivo biological activities
• Cyclodextrins