Recent Progress on the Synergistic Antitumor Effect of a Borneol-Modified Nanocarrier Drug Delivery System

Abstract

Borneol, a traditional Chinese medicine, can enhance therapeutic efficacy by guiding the active ingredients to the target site. Reportedly, borneol improves the penetration capacity of the nasal, cornea, transdermal, intestinal, and blood-brain barriers. Although nanotechnology dramatically changed the face of oncology by targeting tumor sites, the efficiency of nanoparticles delivered to tumor sites is very low, with only 0.7% of the total particles delivered. Thus, based on the penetration ability and the inhibition drug efflux of borneol, it was expected to increase the targeting and detention efficacy of drugs into tumor sites in nanocarriers with borneol modification. Borneol modified nanocarriers used to improve drug-targeting has become a research focus in recent years, but few studies in this area, especially in the antitumor application. Hence, this review summarizes the recent development of nanocarriers with borneol modification. We focus on the updated works of improving therapeutic efficacy, reducing toxicity, inhibiting tumor metastasis, reversing multidrug resistance, and enhancing brain targeting to expand their application and provide a reference for further exploration of targeting drug delivery systems for solid tumor treatment.

Research Progress on the Synergistic Anti-Tumor Effect of Natural Anti-Tumor Components of Chinese Herbal Medicine Combined with Chemotherapy Drugs

“…Borneol, an alkaloid compound naturally present in the plant borneol (Borneolum Syntheticum), is a commonly used component in Chinese herbal medicine. Research conducted by Li et al [51] in 2021 on nanocarriers modified with borneol revealed that borneol can improve therapeutic efficacy, reduce toxicity, inhibit tumor metastasis, and reverse multidrug resistance. Moreover, berberine, an isoquinoline alkaloid isolated from Coptis chinensis (Coptis chinensis), was also widely explored as a potential natural anticancer therapeutic agent [52].…”

Liposomes as Multifunctional Nano-Carriers for Medicinal Natural Products

“…Generally, they are hydrophobic, which means low water solubility. Borneol , a bicyclic monoterpene, isolated from Dryobalanops aromatica Gaertn f. and Blumea balsamifera DC , has been used as a messenger drug encapsulated in liposomes to help other drugs penetrate physiological barriers, such as blood-brain barrier ( Zhang et al, 2020 ; Li et al, 2021d ). Galactosylated-stearate (Gal-s) modified liposome enhanced the targeted delivery of curcumol and the treatment of liver cancer cells ( Li et al, 2018a ).…”

Plant-Derived Terpenoids: A Promising Tool in the Fight against Melanoma

“…The effect of enhanced curcumin uptake by the cells pretreated with borneol could be due to the low molecular weight and high lipophilicity of this monoterpene. However, other mechanisms, such as loosening of tight junctions and the loss of mucous viscosity and elasticity have also been proposed to explain its drug penetration enhancing effect [75,76].…”