Nano-based delivery systems for berberine: A modern anti-cancer herbal medicine.

Nano-based delivery systems for berberine: A modern anti-cancer herbal medicine. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces. 2020 Jun 08;194:111188 Authors: Majidzadeh H, Araj-Khodaei M, Ghaffari M, Torbati M, Ezzati Nazhad Dolatabadi J, Hamblin MR Abstract Berberine (BBR) is an isoquinoline alkaloid belonging to the structural class of protoberberines. BBR has been used in traditional medicine to treat diseases, such as type 2 diabetes and hypercholesterolemia. BBR inhibits cancer cell growth and induces apoptosis. However, BBR has significant drawbacks as a chemotherapeutic agent, including poor solubility, and induction of drug resistance, limiting its application in chemotherapy. Hence, combination therapy could not only deal with the problems related to single-agent chemotherapy but could also improve the therapeutic index of anticancer drugs. Co-administration of drugs may show pharmaceutical incompatibility due to conflicting physicochemical features. BBR can be used in nanoparticle-based single drug delivery, and in co-delivery systems designed to accommodate drugs and deliver them simultaneously into cancer cells. In this review, we will summarize the use of BBR, including BBR as a single chemotherapeutic agent and the combination of BBR with traditional anti-cancer drugs or herbal medicines in nanoparticle-based delivery systems. PMID: 32540763 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Colloids and Surfaces - Category: Biotechnology Authors: Tags: Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces Source Type: research