Department of Pharmaceutics, Nibha Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Rajgir, Nalanda-803116, Bihar, India.
Department of Pharmaceutics, Anurag Group of Institutions, School of Pharmacy, Venkatapur, Ghatkesar, Telangana-500088, India.
Curr Drug Metab. 2020;21(9):661-673. doi: 10.2174/1389200221666200523161003.
Herbal medicines are being used since ancient times and are an important part of the alternative and traditional medicinal system. In recent decades, scientists are embracing herbal medicines based on the fact that a number of drugs that are currently in use are derived directly or indirectly from plant sources. Moreover, herbal drugs have lesser side effects, albeit are potentially strong therapeutic agents. The herbal medicine market is estimated to be around US $62 billion globally. Herbal medicine has gained widespread acceptance due to its low toxicity, low cost, ease of accessibility and efficacy in treating difficult diseases. Safety and efficacy are another important factors in the commercialization process of herbal medicines. Nanotechnology has been shown to be potentially effective in improving the bioactivity and bioavailability of herbal medicines. Development of nano-phytomedicines (or by reducing the size of phytomedicine), attaching polymers with phytomedicines and modifying the surface properties of herbal drugs, have increased the solubility, permeability and eventually the bioavailability of herbal formulations. Novel formulations such as niosomes, liposomes, nanospheres, phytosomes etc., can be exploited in this area. This article reviews herbal medicines, which have prominent activity in the Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders and reported nano-phytomedicines based delivery systems.
草药自远古时代就被使用，是替代和传统医学体系的重要组成部分。近几十年来，科学家们基于这样一个事实，即目前使用的许多药物直接或间接来自植物来源，开始接受草药。此外，草药的副作用较小，尽管它们具有潜在的强大治疗作用。全球草药市场估计约为 620 亿美元。由于草药具有低毒性、低成本、易于获取以及在治疗疑难疾病方面的疗效，因此已被广泛接受。安全性和有效性是草药商业化过程中的另一个重要因素。纳米技术已被证明可有效提高草药的生物活性和生物利用度。开发纳米植物药（或减小植物药的尺寸）、将聚合物与植物药结合以及修饰草药的表面特性，可提高草药制剂的溶解度、渗透性，并最终提高其生物利用度。可以利用新型制剂，如囊泡、脂质体、纳米球、植物药等。本文综述了在中枢神经系统（CNS）疾病方面具有显著活性的草药以及已报道的基于纳米植物药的递药系统。
