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Nanotechnology Innovations to Enhance the Therapeutic Efficacy of Quercetin

Quercetin is a flavonol present in many vegetables and fruits. Generally, quercetin can be found in aglycone and glycoside forms, mainly in leaves. The absorption of this compound occurs in the large and small intestine, where it suffers glucuronidation, sulfidation, and methylation to improve hydro...

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Autores principales: Pinheiro, Rúben G. R., Pinheiro, Marina, Neves, Ana Rute
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8539325/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34685098
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano11102658
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author Pinheiro, Rúben G. R.
Pinheiro, Marina
Neves, Ana Rute
author_facet Pinheiro, Rúben G. R.
Pinheiro, Marina
Neves, Ana Rute
author_sort Pinheiro, Rúben G. R.
collection PubMed
description Quercetin is a flavonol present in many vegetables and fruits. Generally, quercetin can be found in aglycone and glycoside forms, mainly in leaves. The absorption of this compound occurs in the large and small intestine, where it suffers glucuronidation, sulfidation, and methylation to improve hydrophilicity. After metabolization, which occurs mainly in the gut, it is distributed throughout the whole organism and is excreted by feces, urine, and exhalation of carbon dioxide. Despite its in vitro cytotoxicity effects, in vivo studies with animal models ensure its safety. This compound can protect against cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and neurodegenerative diseases due to its radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory properties. However, its poor bioavailability dampens the potential beneficial effects of this flavonoid. In that sense, many types of nanocarriers have been developed to improve quercetin solubility, as well as to design tissue-specific delivery systems. All these studies manage to improve the bioavailability of quercetin, allowing it to increase its concentration in the desired places. Collectively, quercetin can become a promising compound if nanotechnology is employed as a tool to enhance its therapeutic efficacy.
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spelling pubmed-85393252021-10-24 Nanotechnology Innovations to Enhance the Therapeutic Efficacy of Quercetin Pinheiro, Rúben G. R. Pinheiro, Marina Neves, Ana Rute Nanomaterials (Basel) Review Quercetin is a flavonol present in many vegetables and fruits. Generally, quercetin can be found in aglycone and glycoside forms, mainly in leaves. The absorption of this compound occurs in the large and small intestine, where it suffers glucuronidation, sulfidation, and methylation to improve hydrophilicity. After metabolization, which occurs mainly in the gut, it is distributed throughout the whole organism and is excreted by feces, urine, and exhalation of carbon dioxide. Despite its in vitro cytotoxicity effects, in vivo studies with animal models ensure its safety. This compound can protect against cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and neurodegenerative diseases due to its radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory properties. However, its poor bioavailability dampens the potential beneficial effects of this flavonoid. In that sense, many types of nanocarriers have been developed to improve quercetin solubility, as well as to design tissue-specific delivery systems. All these studies manage to improve the bioavailability of quercetin, allowing it to increase its concentration in the desired places. Collectively, quercetin can become a promising compound if nanotechnology is employed as a tool to enhance its therapeutic efficacy. MDPI 2021-10-09 /pmc/articles/PMC8539325/ /pubmed/34685098 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano11102658 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Pinheiro, Rúben G. R.
Pinheiro, Marina
Neves, Ana Rute
Nanotechnology Innovations to Enhance the Therapeutic Efficacy of Quercetin
title Nanotechnology Innovations to Enhance the Therapeutic Efficacy of Quercetin
title_full Nanotechnology Innovations to Enhance the Therapeutic Efficacy of Quercetin
title_fullStr Nanotechnology Innovations to Enhance the Therapeutic Efficacy of Quercetin
title_full_unstemmed Nanotechnology Innovations to Enhance the Therapeutic Efficacy of Quercetin
title_short Nanotechnology Innovations to Enhance the Therapeutic Efficacy of Quercetin
title_sort nanotechnology innovations to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of quercetin
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8539325/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34685098
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano11102658
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