Vesicular Carriers for Phytochemical Delivery: A Comprehensive Review of Techniques and Applications

Natural substances, especially those derived from plants, exhibit a diverse range of therapeutic benefits, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antimicrobial effects. Nevertheless, their use in clinical settings is frequently impeded by inadequate solubility, limited bioavailabili...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shery Jacob, Fathima Sheik Kather, Sai H. S. Boddu, Rekha Rao, Anroop B. Nair
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Pharmaceutics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/17/4/464
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Natural substances, especially those derived from plants, exhibit a diverse range of therapeutic benefits, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antimicrobial effects. Nevertheless, their use in clinical settings is frequently impeded by inadequate solubility, limited bioavailability, and instability. Nanovesicular carriers, such as liposomes, niosomes, ethosomes, transferosomes, transethosomes, and cubosomes, have emerged as innovative phytochemical delivery systems to address these limitations. This review highlights recent developments in vesicular nanocarriers for phytochemical delivery, emphasizing preparation techniques, composition, therapeutic applications, and the future potential of these systems. Phytosomes, along with their key advantages and various preparation techniques, are extensively described. Various in vitro and in vivo characterization techniques utilized for evaluating these nanovesicular carriers are summarized. Completed clinical trials and patents granted for nanovesicles encapsulating phytochemicals designed for systemic delivery are tabulated. Phytochemical delivery via vesicular carriers faces challenges such as low stability, limited active loading, scalability issues, and high production costs. Additionally, immune clearance and regulatory hurdles hinder clinical application, requiring improved carrier design and formulation techniques.
ISSN:1999-4923