Flavonoid-liposomes formulations: Physico-chemical characteristics, biological activities and therapeutic applications

Abstract

Flavonoids constitute a class of naturally derived heterocyclic compounds ubiquitously distributed in fruits, herbs and vegetables. Until today, flavonoids, as nutritional supplements, have attracted great scientific interest because of their anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antibacterial, antitumor, antioxidant, and hepatoprotective properties mainly due to their function as potential scavengers of free radicals, enzyme inhibitors, and their interactions with biomembranes. However, their limited aqueous solubility and bioavailability, photo-induced oxidation and degradation, low absorption rates, rapid and extensive metabolism decrease their potential health benefits as nutraceutical ingredients. An effective strategy to overcome these limitations is the development of functional drug delivery systems to improve the encapsulating procedure of flavonoids into water soluble nanocarriers for enhanced biological and chemical protection. Liposomes constitute artificial vesicles obtained from natural phospholipid bilayers separated by aqueous compartments. They are exceptional candidates for drug delivery applications due to their atoxic behavior, biocompatibility, tunable physico-chemical profile and capability to entrap both lipophilic and hydrophilic drugs. Several experimental studies on the encapsulation and delivery of flavonoids have resulted in the design of innovative liposomal encapsulation technology to effectively deliver flavonoids to specific cellular targets and organelles. Herein, a detailed overview of flavonoid-liposomes formulations is presented along with their physico-chemical characteristics and therapeutic applications.