Novel Delivery Systems of Polyphenols and Their Potential Health Benefits

Abstract

Liposome-based delivery systems have been studied and used more frequently in recent years due to their advantages, such as low toxicity, specificity, and the ability to protect the encapsulated substance from environmental factors, which could otherwise degrade the active compound and reduce its effectiveness. Given these benefits, many researchers have encapsulated polyphenols in liposomes, thus increasing their bioavailability and stability. Similarly, polyphenols encapsulated in liposomes are known to produce more substantial effects on targeted cells than unencapsulated polyphenols, while having minimal cytotoxicity in healthy cells. Although polyphenols play a role in preventing many types of disease and generally have beneficial effects on health, we solely focused on their chemopreventive effects on cancer through liposomes in this review. Our goal was to summarize the applicability and efficacy of liposomes encapsulated with different classes of polyphenols on several types of cancer, thus opening the opportunity for future studies based on these drug delivery systems.

Anthocyanins: Factors Affecting Their Stability and Degradation

“…As already mentioned, anthocyanins have multiple health benefits, but their effectiveness is limited by their low stability, which is influenced by the factors previously described such as pH, temperature, light, oxygen and others. Furthermore, due to their low absorption and rapid metabolization in the organism, these compounds have very low bioavailability and the best strategy to overcome these disadvantages is to create anthocyanin-encapsulation systems [ 85 , 86 ].…”

“…Liposomes are phospholipid vesicles of a spherical shape composed of one or more concentric lipid bilayers comprising an aqueous space [ 86 ]. In recent years, methods and systems for obtaining liposomes have advanced considerably, but there are several basic steps in this process.…”

Toxicity Assessment of Resveratrol Liposomes-in-Hydrogel Delivery System by EpiVaginalTM Tissue Model

“…Due to poor solubility and limited stability and bioavailability, the optimal exploitation of RES activities is dependent on a suitable carrier. Liposomes are well-established nanocarriers suitable for the delivery of polyphenols [14][15][16][17]. The phospholipid-based nanovesicles are biocompatible and allow entrapment of compounds of different molecular weights and lipophilicity [2].…”

Chemical Structure, Sources and Role of Bioactive Flavonoids in Cancer Prevention: A Review

“…Although the diet method seems to be the easiest one, the problem is that the low bioavailability of flavonoids is an impediment in the absorption of a high concentration of the active compound. Low bioavailability refers to the fact that, once ingested, the compound reaches the systemic circulation with difficulty, resulting in a low rate of cellular absorption due to the high rate of metabolism and poor solubility [70]. That is the reason why increasing numbers of researchers have focused their attention on enhancing the flavonoid concentration and/or on patenting the encapsulation methods by which relatively high amounts of bioactive compound can be transported and protected throughout the body via polymeric coats or diverse matrices and can be transported to target cells [71].…”