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Flavonoids and Their Advancement in Pharmaceutical Sciences
Ysrafil Y.
Plant Secondary Metabolites Sources and Applications
Abstract
Flavonoids are natural metabolites of plants that are found in abundance and exhibit many promising pharmacological effects. These compounds are contained in various parts of plants, such as fruits, barks, roots, herbs, stems, cereals, nuts, vegetables, flowers, and seeds which can be extracted easily using suitable solvents. In plants, they are biosynthesized via two main pathways, namely phenylpropanoid and shikimate for further processing into intact flavonoids. It has demonstrated that these compounds have been proven to manage infectious diseases, such as diseases related to viruses, bacteria, and fungi and other parasites, as well as non-infectious such as diabetic, obesity, cardiovascular, alzheimer, cancer, and immunomodulation. Proof of efficacy has been carried out both in silico, in vitro and clinical trials with very promising results. However, the main drawback of this group of compounds is their unpromising pharmacokinetic profile that often found their effects are not well achieved and on the other hand can cause adverse effects. Several recent approaches have explored various solutions to this problem, including their incorporation with nanotechnology-based delivery systems or microneedles (for transdermal). Different nanoparticle platforms have been proposed to be effective for patching holes in the delivery system, improving the pharmacokinetic profile, and precise targeting of drug target sites.