Title : Introducing niosome as a nano-scale lipid system in more effective delivery of herbal compounds to cancer cells.
Abstract:
Cancer is a general name that refers to a group of diseases, the common feature of which is the abnormal growth of cells. Therefore, researchers are always looking for a way to stop the abnormal growth of cancer cells. Today, methods such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are used to treat cancer. Although these methods can prevent the progress of cancer cells to some extent, but due to their non-targeting, they usually cause many side effects for the patient. For example, nausea, heart diseases, anemia, alopecia, etc. are the side effects of chemotherapy in patients who used this method for treatment. Medicinal plants are natural sources that have been of interest to humans for therapeutic purposes since the past. Nowadays, it is known that plant compounds, especially essential oils and extracts, have bioactive compounds that can play an important role in suppressing tumors, although plant compounds Unlike common chemotherapy drugs, they have fewer side effects, but their use faces challenges. High oxidizability, low absorption, volatility and non-targeting are among the problems of using herbal compounds with therapeutic purposes. Therefore, it is very necessary to use new methods to deliver plant compounds to the target cells. Nanotechnology has grown significantly in recent years and has been able to reduce some of the problems in the field of health and treatment. Niosome are nanoscale structures that made of nonionic surfactants that are formed by hydration of cholesterol. Cholesterol in these compounds increases their strength and hardness, and on the other hand, the presence of non-ionic surfactants gives electrical charge to niosomes and increases the loading of different compounds in these particles. These spherical structures have the ability to trap hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs and can deliver the drug to the target cells more effectively. Our research shows that niosomal plant essential oils have more anti-proliferative effects on cancer cells than non-niosomal essential oils. The genetic study of cancer cells shows that the use of niosomal herbal compounds has a greater effect on suppressing the expression of genes related to cancer and a greater effect on the expression of genes effective in tumor suppression than non-niosomal compounds. Meanwhile, these nanoscale lipid systems cause little toxicity to healthy cells. Examining the drug release profile from this system in vitro conditions shows that the release pattern of essential oil from these lipid systems is slow and continuous and the amount of essential oil release is higher in similar environments around cancer cells than in similar environments around healthy cells. This issue can show that niosome systems containing essential oils act in a semi-targeted way. Also, our research shows that niosome systems or containing essential oils have relatively high stability and can maintain their physical and chemical characteristics for more than 120 days. Niosomes are biodegradable, biocompatible and non-toxic and are capable of encapsulating a large amount of material in a relatively smaller volume than other vesicles. The use of niosomes improves the stability and pharmacokinetics of the drug and, as a result, increases the therapeutic effects and reduces the side effects of the drug. It seems that in the future these lipid systems will play a more prominent role in the targeted delivery of herbal compounds to the target cells.
Audience Take Away:
- This abstract is a summary to introduce nano-scale lipid systems, including niosomes, in more effective delivery of plant compounds to cancer cells.
- Emphasis on the role of herbal compounds in cancer treatment.
- Determining the problems of using herbal composition in cancer treatment.
- Introduction of Niosome as a semi-targeted drug delivery system.
