Nanodelivery of Natural Antioxidants: An Anti-aging Perspective

Abstract

The aging process is known to be associated with heightened oxidative stress and related systemic inflammation. Therefore, antioxidant supplementation is regarded as a promising strategy to combat aging and associated pathological conditions. Food-grade antioxidants from plant-derived extracts are the most common ingredients of these supplements. Phyto-bioactive compounds such as curcumin, resveratrol, catechins, quercetin are among the most commonly applied natural compounds used as potential modulators of the free radical-induced cellular damages. The therapeutic potential of these compounds is, however, restricted by their low bioavailability related to poor solubility, stability, and absorbance in gastrointestinal tract. Recently, novel nanotechnology-based systems were developed for therapeutic delivery of natural antioxidants with improved bioavailability and, consequently, efficacy in clinical practice. Such systems have provided many benefits in preclinical research over the conventional preparations, including superior solubility and stability, extended half-life, improved epithelium permeability and bioavailability, enhanced tissue targeting, and minimized side effects. The present review summarizes recent developments in nanodelivery of natural antioxidants and its application to combat pathological conditions associated with oxidative stress.

Keywords: age-associated disorders; anti-inflammatory properties; bioavailability; nano-antioxidants; nanodelivery; oxidative stress; phytochemicals.

Figure 1

Summary of the bifurcated effects that can be induced by ROS. On the one hand, ROS induces the oxidative damage to proteins, DNA and lipids. On the other hand, they also trigger the organism's adaptive responses including antioxidant and heat shock responses, fatty acid deacylation-reacylation, cell cycle regulation, DNA repair and apoptosis, unfolded protein responses, and autophagy stimulation. The figure and its legend are reproduced from the open-access article by Mao and Franke (2013) distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License with permission from the authors.

Figure 2

Chemical structures of the most commonly used phytoantioxidants.

Figure 3

Graphical representations of the most common types of nanocomposites.

Figure 4

Schematic representation of nanotechnology-based systems used for brain delivery of phytoantioxidant-loaded nanodelivery systems.