Phytosome: An Effective Transdermal Drug Delivery System for Phytoconstituents

Abstract

Herbal medicine and phytochemicals have always been great therapeutic options to treat various diseases due to their compatibility, safety, easy production, low cost and side effects. However, low absorption rate ,and poor bioavailability are notable challenges that have limited the use of most phytoconstituents. To address these challenges, different drug delivery methods have been proposed for generating operative carrier systems for phytochemicals. Among them, transdermal drug delivery (TDD) using nanophytosome has been introduced as a promising candidate for the delivery of insoluble phytoconstituents. Phytosomes can overcome skin barriers, and are therefore effective carriers for herbal medicines. They are generally produced by combining phytoconstituent agents in medicinal plant extracts with phospholipid molecules. They have improved the clinical applications of phytoconstituents such as polyphenols by enhancing their bioavailability and uptake. In this review, main benefits of transdermal delivery systems, advantages of nanophytosome over other lipid nanoparticles in TDD of phytochemicals, and methods of phytosome preparation and characterization are briefly reviewed.

Synthesis, characterization and hepatoprotective effect of silymarin phytosome nanoparticles on ethanol-induced hepatotoxicity in rats

“…[44][45][46][47] Our results, thus, showed that these beneficial effects could be increased through phytosomal formulation. Previous studies have also indicated that phosphatidylcholine in the phytosome not only carries biologically active flavonoids, but also acts as a biologically active nutrient for liver disease, including alcoholic hepatic steatosis 48,49 ; moreover, plant extracts in phytosomes are protected against degradation by gastrointestinal secretions and intestinal bacteria due to their lipid-resistant bond. 50 In this regard, serum analysis of 23 healthy individuals that used silybinphosphatidylcholine (silibinin is the primary active flavonolignan in silymarin extract) or silymarin showed the higher bioavailability of silybin-phosphatidylcholine when compared to silymarin.…”

Burned Wound Healing Effect of Prepared Pumpkin Seed Oil Nano Phytosome Loaded Lidocaine in Rabbit

“…Nano, meaning "dwarf " in Greek, involves particles ranging from 1 to 100 nm in size (Demir, 2020;Hasan and Raheem, 2021). Phytosome, an advanced drug delivery system, is an evolved form of liposome particles and herbal formulation, it comprises phytoconstituents from plant extracts enclosed by a lipid layer (Mahmoudabad et al, 2023;Eftekhari et al, 2023). This system heightens the bioavailability of water-soluble phytoconstituents by enveloping them with phospholipids, leading to improved absorption in the intestinal lumen through simple diffusion.…”