title: Natural product-based nanomedicine: recent advances and issues.
abstract: Natural products have been used in medicine for many years. Many top-selling pharmaceuticals are natural compounds or their derivatives. These plant- or microorganism-derived compounds have shown potential as therapeutic agents against cancer, microbial infection, inflammation, and other disease conditions. However, their success in clinical trials has been less impressive, partly due to the compounds' low bioavailability. The incorporation of nanoparticles into a delivery system for natural products would be a major advance in the efforts to increase their therapeutic effects. Recently, advances have been made showing that nanoparticles can significantly increase the bioavailability of natural products both in vitro and in vivo. Nanotechnology has demonstrated its capability to manipulate particles in order to target specific areas of the body and control the release of drugs. Although there are many benefits to applying nanotechnology for better delivery of natural products, it is not without issues. Drug targeting remains a challenge and potential nanoparticle toxicity needs to be further investigated, especially if these systems are to be used to treat chronic human diseases. This review aims to summarize recent progress in several key areas relevant to natural products in nanoparticle delivery systems for biomedical applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA ; Program in Nanoscience, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Rebekah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug Discovery, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA ; Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA ; Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Chenming
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Center for Drug Discovery, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA ; Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA ; Department of Chemical Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Richey M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA ; Center for Drug Discovery, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D001688:Biological Products / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D050997:Nanomedicine / Q000379:methods*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products
keywords: bioavailability; controlled release; drug delivery; nanomedicine; natural products; targeting