Application of Nanocarrier Systems for the Delivery of Bioactive Natural Products and Derivatives Thereof

Dear Colleagues,

Since ancient times, natural products have been used as medicines for the treatment of several illnesses. In this sense, the isolation and identification of bioactive natural compounds have played a crucial role in the drug discovery process.

Natural molecules as well as their derivatives have been used for the development of novel treatments for a variety of diseases, with cancer and infectious diseases being among the most noteworthy. Although bioactive natural compounds have many advantages, such as a low molecular weight, variety of structures and chiral centers that allow for interactions with biological targets, many of them also have drawbacks related to their poor solubility, permeability and/or stability in biological mediums.

At present, researchers are putting more efforts in developing a Novel Drug Delivery System (NDDS) for the effective and targeted delivery of old, well-established molecules to increase safety and efficacy and to reduce the needed dose, instead of inventing new drug molecules.

In recent years, nanotechnology has made great progress in the development of carriers for the transportation of drugs. These systems are especially of interest for natural compound delivery, since they can overcome their limitations by improving pharmacokinetic properties and the arrival to the site of action.

This Special Issue will cover aspects related to the application of nanotechnology systems for the delivery of natural products as potential therapeutic treatments for acute and chronic diseases. Submissions, including research papers as well as mini-reviews and review articles, will be considered.

Prof. Dr. Valeria Patricia Sülsen
Prof. Dr. Maria Do Céu Costa
Prof. Dr. Constantinos Athanassopoulos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceutics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• nanotechnology
• nanocarriers
• natural compounds
• novel drug delivery (NDDS)
• target delivery