Recent Patents on Plant-Derived Nanoparticles and their Potential Application Towards Various Cancer Therapeutics.

BACKGROUND: Nanotechnology plays a vital role in the field of medicine. Especially various nanoparticles such as silver, gold, platinum are involved in the treatment of different types of cancer. The effective nanoparticles were synthesized using techniques like chemical, physical, electrochemical and biological methods. In order to overcome the limitations existing in the synthesis of nanoparticles, researchers turned their attention toward the biological single step nanoparticle synthesis method by using plant and plant products. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to overcome the side effects encountered in the existing anti- cancer agents like nonspecificity and fast excretion, and plant-derived nanoparticles that are ecofriendly, cost-effective and biologically active could serve as a promising alternative. CONCLUSION: From the thorough literature review and recent patents, it is understood that the plantderived nanoparticles exhibited an excellent anti-proliferation anti-tumor activity towards different types of cancers without affecting the normal cells. Especially, the traditional chemotherapeutic drugs obtained from the plant source incorporated with the nanoparticles show remarkable results against anti cancer studies. The present review focused on some of the existing herbal plant derived nanoparticles, formulations and their potential application in cancer therapeutics.

Role of Cannabidiol and Tetrahydrocannabivarin on Paclitaxel-induced neuropathic pain in rodents.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate if phytocannabinoids, synthetic cannabidiol (CBD), and tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), and their combination, could protect mice from Paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy (PIPN). Six groups of C57BL/6J mice (n = 6) were used in this study. The mice were given paclitaxel (PTX) (8 mg/kg/day, i.p.) on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 to induce neuropathy. Mice were evaluated for behavioral parameters, and dorsal root ganglions (DRG) were collected from the animals and subjected to RNA sequencing and westernblot analysis at the end of the study. On cultured DRGs derived from adult male rats, immunocytochemistry and mitochondrial functional assays were also performed. When compared to individual treatments, the combination of CBD and THCV improved thermal and mechanical neurobehavioral symptoms in mice by twofold. Targets for CBD and THCV therapy were identified by KEGG (RNA sequencing). PTX reduced the expression of p-AMPK, SIRT1, NRF2, HO1, SOD2, and catalase while increasing the expression of PI3K, p-AKT, p-P38 MAP kinase, BAX, TGF-ß, NLRP3 inflammasome, and caspase 3 in DRG homogenates of mice. Combination therapy outperformed monotherapy in reversing these protein expressions. The addition of CBD and THCV to DRG primary cultures reduced mitochondrial superoxides while increasing mitochondrial membrane potentials. WAY100135 and rimonabant altered the neuroprotective effects of CBD and THCV respectively by blocking 5-HT1A and CB1 receptors in mice and DRG primary cultures. The entourage effect of CBD and THCV against PIPN appears to protect neurons in mice via 5HT1A and CB1 receptors respectively.