Challenges in the Delivery of Polyphenols to Cancer Cells Publisher



Taghipour YD^{1, 2, 3} ; Kulkarni A⁴ ; Farzaei MH⁵ ; Abdollahi M^{6, 7}
Source: Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Nanotherapeutics: Aging# Diseases# and Nanotechnology-Related Strategies in Mitochondrial Medicine Published:2021

Abstract

Cancer is one of the most life-threatening diseases with a high annual global mortality rate that causes significant financial burdens for patients along with social health care organizations. Diverse natural and synthetic strategies have been undertaken to defeat this malignancy. Natural polyphenols with their remarkable features are among the nature-derived agents that have been used for the treatment of various disorders and malignancies. The remarkable therapeutic impacts of polyphenols arise from their antiinflammatory, oxidative stress modifier, immunomodulatory, and antineoplastic characteristics, which make them a natural and unique therapeutic approach. Polyphenols are considered chemotherapeutic agents with high efficiency in the treatment of different kinds of cancers. The chief issues regarding the application of polyphenols are their short half-life, low solubility in water, and low bioavailability, which must be considered in experimental and clinical approaches. Among various designed and examined formulations for modifying the bioavailability and solubility of these compounds, nanotechnology is the most extraordinary approach that is successfully developed. Diverse types of nanoformulations, including polymeric, lipidic, metallic, and magnetic nanoparticles, have been synthesized for encapsulation and delivery of resveratrol, quercetin, curcumin, silymarin, coumarin, myricitrin, and epigallocatechin-3-gallate to cancer sites. Nanoformulated polyphenols serving as targeted drug delivery systems possess higher efficiency and stability, improved drug loading, and sustained release in the specific tumor site. In this chapter, we provide updated data about diverse natural polyphenol-loaded nanoformulations and the strategies that have been used to solve their short half-life, low bioavailability, and low solubility problems and their outstanding impacts on different types of cancers. This data emphasizes polyphenols capability, not only as compounds with ability to prevent cancer. © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.