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Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, with every sixth death being attributable to cancer. Nevertheless, the efficacy of conventional chemotherapeutic drugs is often limited due to their poor solubility, unfavorable pharmacokinetic profile, and lack of tumor selectivity. The use of nanotechnology provides an opportunity to enhance the efficacy of a chemotherapeutic drug by improving its bioavailability and pharmacokinetic profile while facilitating preferential accumulation at the tumor tissue. To date, a variety ofplatforms have been investigated as nanocarriers in oncology, which include lipid-based, polymer-based, inorganic materials, and even viruses.Among different nanocarriers, lipid-based delivery systems have been extensively used in oncology because of their biocompatibility, biodegradability, ability to encapsulate diverse drug molecules, high temporal and thermal stability, and offer prolonged and controlled drug release. This review discusses the current status of the lipid-based nanocarriers and their applications in cancer treatment as well as an overview of the different nanoformulationslike liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructured lipid carriers which are commercially available for cancer therapy.

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Plants produce biologically active metabolites that have been utilised to cure a variety of severe and persistent illnesses. There is a possibility that understanding how these bioactive molecules work would allow researchers to come up with better treatments for diseases including malignancy, cardiac disease and neurological disorders. A triterpene called ursolic acid (UA) is a pentacyclic prevalent triterpenoid found in fruits, leaves, herbs and blooms. The biological and chemical aspects of UA, as well as their presence, plant sources and biosynthesis, and traditional and newer technologies of extraction, are discussed in this review. Because of its biological function in the creation of new therapeutic techniques, UA is a feasible option for the evolution and medical management of a wide range of medical conditions, including cancer and other life threatening diseases. Despite this, the substance's poor solubility in aquatic environments makes it unsuitable for medicinal purposes. This hurdle was resolved in many different ways. The inclusion of UA into various pharmaceutical delivery approaches was found to be quite effective in this respect. This review also describes the properties of UA and its pharmacokinetics, as well as therapeutic applications of UA for cancer, inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases, in addition to its anti‐diabetic, immunomodulatory, hepatoprotective and anti‐microbial properties. Some of the recent findings related to novel nano‐sized carriers as a delivery system for UA and the patents related to the applications of UA and its various derivatives are covered in this review. The analytical study of UA, oleanolic acid and other phytoconstituents by UV, HPLC, high‐performance thin‐layer chromatography and gas chromatography is also discussed. In the future, UA could be explored in vivo using various animal models and, in addition, the regulatory status regarding UA needs to be explored. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Plant bioactives have always been a source of many valuable medicines. Alkamides are a class of pseudoalkalloidbioactives that are distributed among 33 medicinal plant families including Asteraceae (Compositeae). Genus SpilanthesofAsteraceae family is a storehouse of various potent alkamides. Spilanthol is considered as a key compound with its maximum concentration in the flower heads. Alkamides are pungent in taste and show analgesic and anaesthetic properties. These have been reported to exhibit significant larvicidal/insecticidal, antimicrobial, aphrodisiac, antimutagenic, anti-inflammatory and immune-enhancing pharmacological activities. Also, transdermal and transmucosalbehaviour of spilanthol has been well documented. Therefore, alkamide content make this genus a promising medicinal plant with several biological and pharmacological activities. Thus, this review presents an overview of different alkamides in Spilanthes with an emphasis on their properties, distribution, pharmacological aspects and mode of administration.

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