Zein-Based Nanocarriers: Advances in Oral Drug Delivery
Oral administration remains the preferred drug delivery route but faces formidable gastrointestinal barriers, including enzymatic degradation, solubility limitations, and poor epithelial absorption. Zein-based nanocarriers (ZBNs), derived from maize prolamin, provide a transformative platform to add...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Pharmaceutics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/17/7/944 |
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| author | Yuxin Liu Dongyu An Xiangjian Meng Shiming Deng Guijin Liu |
| author_facet | Yuxin Liu Dongyu An Xiangjian Meng Shiming Deng Guijin Liu |
| author_sort | Yuxin Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Oral administration remains the preferred drug delivery route but faces formidable gastrointestinal barriers, including enzymatic degradation, solubility limitations, and poor epithelial absorption. Zein-based nanocarriers (ZBNs), derived from maize prolamin, provide a transformative platform to address these challenges. This review synthesizes recent advances in ZBNs’ design, highlighting their intrinsic advantages: structural stability across pH gradients, self-assembly versatility, and a surface functionalization capacity. Critically, we detail how engineered ZBNs overcome key barriers, such as enzymatic/chemical protection via hydrophobic encapsulation, the enhanced mucus penetration or adhesion through surface engineering, and improved epithelial transport via ligand conjugation. Applications demonstrate their efficacy in stabilizing labile therapeutics, enhancing the solubility of BCS Class II/IV drugs, enabling pH-responsive release, and significantly boosting oral bioavailability. Remaining challenges in scalability and translational predictability warrant future efforts toward multifunctional systems, bio-interfacial modeling, and continuous manufacturing. This work positions ZBNs as a potential platform for the oral delivery of BCS Class II–IV drugs’ in the biopharmaceutics classification system. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1467c107344f4b8bbf500eecb3fc0a0e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1999-4923 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pharmaceutics |
| spelling | doaj-art-1467c107344f4b8bbf500eecb3fc0a0e2025-08-20T03:32:18ZengMDPI AGPharmaceutics1999-49232025-07-0117794410.3390/pharmaceutics17070944Zein-Based Nanocarriers: Advances in Oral Drug DeliveryYuxin Liu0Dongyu An1Xiangjian Meng2Shiming Deng3Guijin Liu4Key Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaKey Laboratory of Tropical Biological Resources of Ministry of Education, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaOral administration remains the preferred drug delivery route but faces formidable gastrointestinal barriers, including enzymatic degradation, solubility limitations, and poor epithelial absorption. Zein-based nanocarriers (ZBNs), derived from maize prolamin, provide a transformative platform to address these challenges. This review synthesizes recent advances in ZBNs’ design, highlighting their intrinsic advantages: structural stability across pH gradients, self-assembly versatility, and a surface functionalization capacity. Critically, we detail how engineered ZBNs overcome key barriers, such as enzymatic/chemical protection via hydrophobic encapsulation, the enhanced mucus penetration or adhesion through surface engineering, and improved epithelial transport via ligand conjugation. Applications demonstrate their efficacy in stabilizing labile therapeutics, enhancing the solubility of BCS Class II/IV drugs, enabling pH-responsive release, and significantly boosting oral bioavailability. Remaining challenges in scalability and translational predictability warrant future efforts toward multifunctional systems, bio-interfacial modeling, and continuous manufacturing. This work positions ZBNs as a potential platform for the oral delivery of BCS Class II–IV drugs’ in the biopharmaceutics classification system.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/17/7/944zeinnanocarriersoral deliverygastrointestinal barriersprotein |
| spellingShingle | Yuxin Liu Dongyu An Xiangjian Meng Shiming Deng Guijin Liu Zein-Based Nanocarriers: Advances in Oral Drug Delivery Pharmaceutics zein nanocarriers oral delivery gastrointestinal barriers protein |
| title | Zein-Based Nanocarriers: Advances in Oral Drug Delivery |
| title_full | Zein-Based Nanocarriers: Advances in Oral Drug Delivery |
| title_fullStr | Zein-Based Nanocarriers: Advances in Oral Drug Delivery |
| title_full_unstemmed | Zein-Based Nanocarriers: Advances in Oral Drug Delivery |
| title_short | Zein-Based Nanocarriers: Advances in Oral Drug Delivery |
| title_sort | zein based nanocarriers advances in oral drug delivery |
| topic | zein nanocarriers oral delivery gastrointestinal barriers protein |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/17/7/944 |
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