Nano-technology in herbal medicines: A review

Abstract

Herbal medicines have been used from years throughout the world; especially in India, herbal medicines are in high demand. The use of herbal medicines has increased because of their ability to treat different diseases with fewer side effects. The development of novel drug delivery system (NDDS) is of considerable importance to overcome various constraints like poor bioavailability, in vivo stability, aqueous insolubility, intestinal absorption and unspecific site of action. The integration of the Nano science as a NDDS in traditional system of medicine enriches the potential of herbal drugs for treating chronic diseases such as cancer and ravaging diseases. The synthesis of nanoparticles can be achieved by adopting the novel methodologies such as Polymer nanoparticle, Magnetic nanoparticle and Metallic nanoparticle depending on characteristic of the nanoparticles. The advanced technologies will shed lights for characterizing the nanoparticles to determine the toxicity profiles for their physical and chemical properties. This review article will provide a brief discussion of Nanoparticles synthesis, characterization by various techniques for production and its future impact of nanotechnology on smart herbal drugs. 1. Introduction Ayurveda is one of the ancient medical sciences practiced in India [1]. Herbal medicines have been recognised by physicians and patients due to their potential therapeutic effect and also their fewer side effects as compared to other medicines, [2, 3] at the same time it also increases the bioavailability [4] of the medicine. For a long time, herbal medicines were not considered for development of novel formulations due to lack of scientific justification and processing difficulties. The modern phyto-pharmaceutical research can solve the scientific needs of herbal medicines in developing novel drug delivery systems, such as nanoparticles, micro emulsion, matrix system, solid dispersion, liposomes and solid lipid nanoparticles. The complexity of active constituents makes the development of novel drug delivery system for herbal formulations very challenging. In most of the conventional dosage forms, only a limited amount of administered dose reaches the targeted site, while the majority of the drugs get distributed throughout the body depending on physicochemical and biochemical properties [5,6] resulting in low therapeutic value. Novel drug delivery system (NDDS) for herbal medicines includes targeted drug delivery, which reduces dosage frequency, increases the solubility and absorption whereas decreases elimination [7]. Among all the NDDS, Nanoparticles are considered to be an important one. Nanoparticle can be used to target the herbal medicines to individual organs which improve the targeted drug delivery, effectiveness and safety of the medicine. Figure No 1. To emphasize more, Nanotechnology is the engineering and manufacturing of materials at the atomic and molecular level. Despite the size restriction Nanotechnology commonly refers to structures that are up to several 100 nm in size. It is the use and manipulation of matter at a tiny scale. At this size, atoms and molecules work differently, and provide a variety of surprising and interesting results. Nanotechnology and Nano science studies have emerged rapidly during the past years in a broad range of product domains. It provides opportunities for the development of materials, including those for medical applications, where conventional techniques may reach their limits [8] .