25-08-2017, 09:32 PM
NOVEL APPROACH: HERBAL REMEDIES AND NATURAL PRODUCTS IN
PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCE AS NANO DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS
1NOVEL APPROACH.pdf (Size: 357 KB / Downloads: 61)
Abstract
Herbal remedies and natural products are being used for an ancient time to cure the diseases. Unlike the existing
allopathic system, the herbal remedies have hundreds and thousands of constituents that all work together against
the diseases. Natural products produced by the organisms such as fungi, bacteria, animals and plants act as
biologically active agents. Mostly, the conventional pharmaceuticals or pharmacognostical products in the market
are rooted from natural products and their derivatives with herbal products playing pivotal role. All over the world,
the research on these herbal remedies has been carried out in the different fields for instance pharmaceutical
chemistry, pharmacognosy, pharmacology and clinical therapeutics. Incorporation of these herbal extracts into
novel formulation systems in order to have added advantages and to overcome their bulk dosing and less absorption
which is the major problem being faced, enticing the attention of major pharmaceutical corporations.
‘Nanotechnology’ is the new emerging technology in the drug discovery and it has the property of self targeting in
the sense that without the attachment of a specific ligand, these can be used for targeting, due to their distinctively
small size, at the infected pathological areas.
Introduction
Natural products (NPs) that are isolated from the plants are known as ‘herbal remedies’ and these are the traditional
medicinal systems that are being followed for the last few decades. Practically, herbal remedies have the date back
long history to the existence of the human civilization. New medicines are being developed and will be developed
gradually by the scientists through the different ways. But always ancient or herbal remedies and NPs have been the
roots of these medicines and will be the main source of the medicines and therapeutics in the future. In ancient time
before the arrival of high throughput screening concerned to drug discovery; 90-95% drug materials were NPs. [1]
Information on source of new drugs nearby 1981-2007 specify that approximately half of the drugs are based on the
NPs. [2, 3] It has been proved that NPs are more voluntarily absorbed than synthetic drugs. NPs drug discovery will
be more sanctified specialized and occupy prudent use of ancient and modern therapeutic expertise in a
harmonizing behavior so that utmost payback can be built up to the patients and the community. The
pharmaceutical companies were laid when techniques were developed to produce synthetic replacement for many
of the medicines that had been derived from the forests. Now the pharmaceutical efforts are cracking to developing
the new pioneering or indigenous therapies and development the uniqueness of plants based drugs (herbal
remedies). [4] NPs have extensively predictable for their wide-ranging structural diversity as well as their spacious
series of pharmacological and pharmacognostical activities in the pharmaceutical organizations.
NPs for drugs development
Natural products (NPs) engage in recreation the imperative part in the drug discovery progression for all miniature
and chronic disease areas from beginning to end this century afar. There are some drugs from NPs that have been
discovered and in development recently such as salinosporamide, dolastain, curacin, turbomycin, vancomycin,
cryptophicin, platensimycin, stichloroside, platencin, theopalauamide. [14] NPs are characteristically derived
secondary metabolites, isolated from organisms (such as bacteria, fungi, protozoans, animals and plants) in
response to peripheral stimuli i.e. nutritional alters, infection, inflammation and other chronic diseases. [15]
Something like 35% of the most-selling drugs present in the market is the NPs or their derivatives. [15] In predeveloped
civilization and industrialized society, plants consequent NPs were utilized with indigenous populations
as therapies intended for numerous diseases seriating from infection to tumors. The medicinal herbal remedies are
several of oldest medicines and their growing utilization in modern existence is evidence of a public attention in
having alternatives to conventional medicine. NPs have some intricacies versus modern drugs. NPs have a major
disadvantage that they take long time to progress from NPs assay to knowing its structures in the drug discovery
development led by the progress of programmed high throughput screening versus synthetic drugs for the structure
is already known. [16] Medicinal chemists always say that NPs are ‘dreadful ducklings’ due to their unpleasant
texture such as structural complexity, multiple hydroxyl moieties, ketones and chiral centers. In the recent years, to
over come these problems, a new stage of the pharmaceutical has been emerged as a combinatorial chemistry
making promise of new intensity of chemical diversities.
Herbal remedies
Overall, traditional medicines are sum of the awareness, and practice based on hypothesis, beliefs, and experiences
imaginative to various cultures. They used in the upholding of good health as well as in the diagnosis, and progress
or curing of physical and mental disease. Traditional medicines include herbal, Ayurveda, Siddha medicine, Unani,
ancient Iranian medicine, Islamic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, Muti, Ifá, and other medical
knowledge and practices all over the globe. [18] These medicines are primary health care requirment of up to 80% of
the population of Asian and African countries. These are often called complementary and alternative medicine
when implemented of its traditional culture outside. Actually improper utilization of traditional medicines or
practices can show dangerous effects. Hence more research is required to ascertain the efficacy and safety of the
medicinal plants used in traditional system as suggested by WHO. [19] Ethnomedicine, ethnobotany, and medical
anthropology are hub obedience for study of traditional medicinal system. Herbal medicines include herbal
meterials, preparations and products that have as active ingredients, parts of plants or other plant materials or
combinations. Their use is well recognized and extensively accredited to be safe and effective, and accepted by
national authorities.
How do herbal remedies work?
Many people have realized that herbal remedy consumers have well nutrias body for ages. Herbal remedies are
produced from renewable sources of raw materials by ecofriendly practices and will convey economic opulence to
the sufficient emergent of these raw materials. Herbalist’s attention is always towards to stumble on the underlying
reason of a disease rather than treat the individual symptoms. Pharmaceutical cure the individual symptoms quite
than dealing with the emphasize health issue itself. Herbal remedies are extracted from plants parts such as leaves,
petals and roots and are a composite mixture of a number of different active ingredients. The body is organized by
individual parts that necessitate working altogether. Treating a patient whole body system must work. The idea of
herbal ’synergy’ elucidates that the complex mixture of hundreds or thousands of constituents of a plant extract all
work together to treat a disease. [26] This is one of the several reasons that herbal remedies are preferential over
manufactured ones.
Nanotechnology as a novel drug delivery strategy
Drug delivery system fetched a novel drug delivery system, a novel approach to over come the draw-backs of the
traditional drug delivery systems. The treatment of the chronic diseases such as cancer using targeted drug delivery
nanoparticles is the latest achievement in the pharmaceutical drug delivery field. The term ‘nanotechnology’ was
derived by Greek word “nanos” that means “dwarf”. Nano device and nano strategy are one billionth of a meter or
10-9 m. Nanotechnology clumps of atoms, molecules, and molecular fragments into extremely small particles
between 1 and 100 nm and puts forward to the interactions of molecular level matters and engineered materials
characteristically.
In recent years there is vast advancement has been done by the scientists to modify the backdrop of the
pharmaceutical industries for the predictable future.
Polymeric Nanoparticles
Polymeric nanoparticles are polymeric colloidal spheres that are very small in size (10-9 m.) and have ability to
entrap the drug within the matrix or adsorb or conjugate at their surface. The release of the drug from the
nanoparticles occurs through the diffusion and erosion from the matrix. [49] Those particles that adsorb the drug on
the surface show the fast release of the drug from other particles those entrap the drug. Both natural and synthetic
polymers take part in the formulations. Polymers that are being used in the pattern are categorized in biodegradable
and non-biodegradable polymers. Biodegradable polymers have persuaded the attention of the scientists because
they degrade in the body and do not have any further toxicity. The dextran, gelatin and chitosan are naturally
derived polymers and synthetic polymers poly(esters), poly(anhydrides), poly(amides) that have been broadly
considered and studied. [50-52]
Polymeric micelles are the point of attraction for the scientists from many years due to their controlled properties
and pharmacological characteristics. They are amphiphilic, the inner core is hydrophobic and the outer shell is
hydrophilic and manufactured by assembling the both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups are placed in the water.