Surely you have already seen someone use plants to treat some disease, but what you may not have seen is that Nanotechnology is a tool that can be used to boost this therapeutic method.
The bioactive molecules present in plants may have some properties that limit their use, such as low distribution, high degradation after ingestion, hydrophobicity, among others. In these cases, nanotechnology provides strategies capable of circumventing these limitations! There are several nanocarriers (see next cards) that allow the transport and release of bioactive molecules in the target, thus enhancing the therapeutic effect.
An example of a very promising nanocarrier of bioactive compounds is the Phytosome, a nanostructure formed by phospholipids (which are molecules also present in the structure of our cells) that are associated with the bioactives present in the extracts of several plants.
There are already phytosomes with the extracts of Japanese walnut, Indian tea and grapeseed being commercialized in the market to prevent liver and heart damage, control body weight and promote cognitive health.
This represents a great example of how science and innovation can relate to ancestral technologies.
Credits: Vitória Regina (Content development); Andreia C. Pinheiro (Card design elaboration); Alicia S. Ombredane, Marcella LB Carneiro and Graziella A. Joanitti (card content and production coordinators).
Referências: Babazadeh A, Zeinali M, Hamishehkar H. Nano-Phytosome: A Developing Platform for Herbal Anti-Cancer Agents in Cancer Therapy. Curr Drug Targets. 2018;19(2):170-180. doi:10.2174/1389450118666170508095250.
BRAGA, Carla de Morais. History of the use of medicinal plants. 2011. 24 f. Monograph (Bachelor of Biological Sciences)—Septentrional Consortium of Distance Education, University of Brasília, State University of Goiás, Brasília, 2011.
Jain, N., B. P. Gupta, N. Thakur, R. Jain, J. Banweer, D. K. Jain, and S. Jain. “PHYTOSOME: A NOVEL DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEM FOR HERBAL MEDICINE”. International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Research, Vol. 2, no. 4, Oct. 2010, pp. 224-8,
Hemshekhar M, Sebastin Santhosh M, Kemparaju K, Girish KS. Emerging roles of anacardic acid and its derivatives: a pharmacological overview. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2012;110(2):122-132. doi:10.1111/j.1742-7843.2011.00833.x
Giordano A, Tommonaro G. Curcumin and Cancer. Nutrients. 2019;11(10):2376. Published 2019 Oct 5. doi:10.3390/nu11102376
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