Phytosomes: emergent promising nanovesicular drug delivery system for targetedtumor therapy

摘要

Targeting the tumor tissues in oncotherapeutics is attracting more attention worldwide forthe past three decades.The exigent need to reduce the side effects of the drugs pressesthe need for the advancements in the targeting therapies and better alternative to theconventional chemotherapies.The effective bio compatible bioactive compounds that areappropriate substitutes to the conventional anti-cancer drugs face the diffculty in beingtransported across the cell membrane as they are hydrophilic.In this article the nano vesiculardrug delivery system,one of the well-received approaches for targeted drug delivery isreviewed,more specifcally the phytosomes.Phytosomes are the unique class of vesiculardrug delivery systems that carry the plant derived bio active compounds across the cellmembrane.Phytosomes are micelles capable of encapsulating the plant extracts in the coreand conjugating the targeting proteins on the outer surface.Vesicular drug delivery systemsin common are passive targeting drug carriers by evading the immune system.But in the caseof tumor therapy,due to enhanced permeation and retention effect the phytosomes that aremore than 40 kDa and a nano-metric size range of 100–1200 nm target the tumor cells actively.Passive targeting increases the bioavailability of the drugs and the active targeting specifcallydelivers the drugs in the site of action are coupled in phytosomes to deliver the bioactivecompounds.In this review,the synthesis,properties and drug encapsulation and deliverymechanisms of the phytosomes are discussed.