Medicinal plant-based drug delivery system for inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic recurrent intestinal disease. The incidence rate of IBD is increasing year by year, which seriously endangers human health worldwide. More and more studies have shown that medicinal plants or their main phytochemicals have great potential in the treatment of intestinal diseases. However, the disadvantages of low oral absorption rate, low biological distribution and low systemic bioavailability limit their clinical application to a certain extent. In recent years, the application of nanotechnology has made it possible to treat IBD. Nanoparticles (NPs) drug delivery system has attracted special attention in the treatment of IBD due to its small size, low immunogenicity, surface modification diversity, targeting and other advantages. Synthetic nanoparticles and extracellular vehicles (EVs) can deliver drug components to colon, and play a role in anti-inflammation, regulation of oxidative stress, improvement of intestinal flora, etc. In addition, some medicinal plants can secrete EVs by themselves, and carry biological molecules with therapeutic effects to act on the intestine. Some clinical trials to evaluate the safety, tolerance, toxicity and effectiveness of EVs-loaded drugs in IBD are also progressing steadily. This review introduces that synthetic nanoparticles and medicinal plants derived EVs can play an important role in the treatment of IBD by carrying the effective active phytochemicals of medicinal plants, and discuss the limitations of current research and future research needs, providing a scientific and reliable basis and perspective for further clinical application and promotion.

Causal relationship between gut microbiota and gastrointestinal diseases: a mendelian randomization study

“…These lend further support to the evidence of a negative correlation between E. hallii and intestinal inflammatory response. Besides producing butyrate, E. hallii also contributes to intestinal mucosal integrity by producing propionate, which activates the NLRP3 inflammasome in intestinal epithelial cells and enhances colonic regulatory T cell expansion, thereby mitigating inflammatory symptoms in IBD [ 53 ]. Moreover, propionate boosts the expansion of colonic regulatory T cells by modulating cell surface G-protein coupled receptors [ 54 ].…”

The role of complex interactions between the intestinal flora and host in regulating intestinal homeostasis and inflammatory bowel disease

“…Therefore, precise targeted therapy has become a promising direction. Synthetic nanoparticles and medicinal plants derived EVs carrying the effective active phytochemicals (as prebiotics) can deliver drug directly to colon, which play a role in improvement of intestinal flora and anti-inflammation ( Li et al, 2023 ). Therefore, dietary supplements such as probiotics and prebiotics, combined with traditional medicines and targetedly delivered with EVs have research potential in the treatment of IBD in the future.…”

Therapeutic strategy of biological macromolecules based natural bioactive compounds of diabetes mellitus and future perspectives: A systematic review

“…The medical community has begun paying increasing attention to nanocarriers in recent years. Patient compliance is essential to achieving treatment goals in managing diabetes, which often necessitates long-term, ongoing drugs [ [256] , [257] , [258] ]. Patient compliance and treatment efficacy can be improved using nanocarriers because they allow for multiple routes of administration, mask unpleasant tastes, enhance controlled drug release, stabilize active compounds, and improve target specificity [ 259 ].…”