Transdermal Nutraceuticals Delivery System for CNS Disease

Abstract

Herbal medicines are being used by humans since the oldest civilizations and have been an integral part of traditional and alternative medicines. In recent times, pharmaceutical and biomedical scientists are taking interest in developing nutraceutical-based medicines to overcome the side effects and adverse drug reactions caused by allopathic medicines. Nutraceuticals have started occupying the global market. Nutraceuticals have gained widespread acceptance due to their efficacy in treating difficult to treat diseases, low toxicity, low cost, easy accessibility, etc. Safety and efficacy are other important factors in the commercialization process of nutraceuticals. Different novel advanced drug delivery systems have been constantly studied to improve the efficacy and bioavailability of medicines obtained from herbal sources. The transdermal drug delivery system provides a potent alternative to the conventional method of using nutraceuticals. The development of transdermal system-based nutraceuticals could provide the advantage of enhanced bioavailability, improved solubility, bypass of the first-pass metabolism, and targeted delivery of drugs in brain-related disorders. It additionally provides the advantage of being non-invasive. This article reviews the potential effects of various nutraceuticals in brain-related disorders as well as trends in transdermal nano-systems to deliver such nutraceuticals. We have also focused on advantages, applications as well as recent United States-based patents which emphasize emerging interest towards transdermal nutraceuticals in brain disorders.

Keywords: Nutraceuticals; brain; drug delivery; herbal drugs; neuronal disease; transdermal.