Posted by The COVID-19 pandemic masked the continuous growth of diseases such as cancer. Although the scientific community has studied these diseases for many years and developed (or discovered) new therapeutic agents, cancer cells use their defense mechanisms to increase their resistance, making continuous research necessary.
The improvement of the formulation is always a point where we can act, and in it, the use of monomeric cyclodextrins and polymers known as Nanosponges has seen growth. It is well known that these excipients have the ability to increase the apparent solubility and stability of the drug in order to increase its activity. In addition, in recent years the use of nutraceuticals has increased in this field, either as a preventive or therapeutic agent.
For this reason, the team of Prof. Francesco Trotta (UNITO), in collaboration with Prof. Cavalli (UNITO) and prof. López-Nicolás (UMU), have carried out a review of the literature in the field for the publication of a book chapter with the title “Cyclodextrins and Cyclodextrin-Based Nanosponges for Anti-Cancer Drug and Nutraceutical Delivery” in the Book “Targeted Cancer Therapy in Biomedical Engineering”.
In this chapter, in addition to a good introduction to the world of cyclodextrins and the inclusion complex formation, you can find examples of drugs such as Tamoxifen or Paclitaxel describing the effect they have and where the formation of the inclusion complex increases the activity. On the other hand, regarding nutraceuticals, we find the description of the bioactivity of different families (flavonoids, stilbenes, essential oils) and their increased activity. An interesting work to better understand the field and keep up to date with the latest discoveries.
References:
Molinar, C., Navarro-Orcajada, S., Ansari, I. A., Conesa, I., Hoti, G., Monfared, Y. K., … & Trotta, F. (2023). Cyclodextrins and Cyclodextrin-Based Nanosponges for Anti-Cancer Drug and Nutraceutical Delivery. In Targeted Cancer Therapy in Biomedical Engineering (pp. 597-629). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-19-9786-0_17