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Topically applied natural antioxidants can be an effective treatment for inhibiting oxidative damage and photoaging of the skin. Due to the barrier function of the stratum corneum (SC), it is necessary to use an enhancement approach to promote the cutaneous absorption of natural antioxidants. Some factors that should be considered when developing delivery systems for natural antioxidants include increased solubility, enhanced storage stability, improved permeability and bioavailability, skin targeting, and minimal side effects. This review describes the skin delivery systems for natural antioxidant permeation that have been developed during the last decade. The antioxidants introduced include vitamins, polyphenols, and carotenoids. Various types of formulations are employed to improve the skin penetration of the antioxidants, such as hydrogels, cyclodextrin, microemulsions, nanoparticles, liposomes and niosomes. This review focuses on the introduction of natural antioxidants used in skin protection, the mechanisms of antioxidant activity on the skin, and formulation designs for enhancing absorption and efficacy.

Different types of injectable nanoparticles, including metallic nanoparticles, polymeric nanocarriers, dendrimers, liposomes, niosomes, and lipid nanoparticles, have been employed to load drugs for lung delivery. Nanoparticles used for lung delivery offer some benefits over conventional formulations, including increased solubility, enhanced stability, improved epithelium permeability and bioavailability, prolonged half-life, tumor targeting, and minimal side effects. In recent years, the concept of using injectable nanocarriers as vehicles for drug delivery has attracted increasing attention. This review highlights recent developments using nanomedical approaches for drug targeting to the lungs. We systematically introduce the concepts and amelioration mechanisms of the nanomedical techniques for lung cancer therapy. Passive targeting by modulating the nanoparticulate structure and the physicochemical properties is an option for efficient drug delivery to the lungs. In addition, active targeting such as antibody or peptide conjugation to nanoparticles is another efficient way to deliver the drugs to the targeted site. This review describes various nanocarriers loaded with anticancer drugs for passive or active targeting of lung malignancy. In this review, we principally focus on the nanomedical application in animal studies. The article excludes investigations limited to cell-based experiments. The review ends by anticipating future developments and trends.

Background: Of the >140 anticancer drugs approved since 1940 and available for clinical application, >60% can be traced to a natural product. Of the small molecules among them, 67% are natural in origin. Nanocarriers can be effective anticancer drug delivery systems for preventing and treating cancers. It has been demonstrated that nanoparticles used for drug therapy provide some advantages over conventional formulations, including increased solubility, enhanced storage stability, improved permeability and bioavailability, prolonged half-life, tissue targeting, and minimal side effects. Methods: In recent years, the concept of using nanoparticles as the carriers of natural products or herbal drugs has attracted increasing attention. This review highlights recent developments using nanomedical approaches for natural product delivery. Results: We systematically introduce the concepts and amelioration mechanisms of the nanomedical techniques for natural product cancer therapy. These modalities are useful in the therapy incorporating a wide variety of natural products for treating brain, lung, breast, and colorectal cancers. The nanosystems for biomedicine can be categorized into three groups: polymeric, lipid, and metallic nanoparticles. All of these have been employed as anticancer carriers for natural products. This review describes various nanocarriers loaded with natural compounds for passive or active targeting of tumors. Conclusion: The nanomedicine research data for phytomedicine cancer remedies suggest a way forward for generating advances in chemotherapy.