The Analgesic Potential of Litsea Species: A Systematic Review.

Various plant species from the Litsea genus have been claimed to be beneficial for pain relief. The PRISMA approach was adopted to identify studies that reported analgesic properties of plants from the Litsea genus. Out of 450 records returned, 19 primary studies revealed the analgesic potential of nine Litsea species including (1) Litsea cubeba, (2) Litsea elliptibacea, (3) Litsea japonica, (4) Litsea glutinosa, (5) Litsea glaucescens, (6) Litsea guatemalensis, (7) Litsea lancifolia, (8) Litsea liyuyingi and (9) Litsea monopetala. Six of the species, 1, 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9, demonstrated peripheral antinociceptive properties as they inhibited acetic-acid-induced writhing in animal models. Species 1, 3, 4, 8 and 9 further showed effects via the central analgesic route at the spinal level by increasing the latencies of heat stimulated-nocifensive responses in the tail flick assay. The hot plate assay also revealed the efficacies of 4 and 9 at the supraspinal level. Species 6 was reported to ameliorate hyperalgesia induced via partial sciatic nerve ligation (PSNL). The antinociceptive effects of 1 and 3 were attributed to the regulatory effects of their bioactive compounds on inflammatory mediators. As for 2 and 5, their analgesic effect may be a result of their activity with the 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A receptor (5-HT1AR) which disrupted the pain-stimulating actions of 5-HT. Antinociceptive activities were documented for various major compounds of the Litsea plants. Overall, the findings suggested Litsea species as good sources of antinociceptive compounds that can be further developed to complement or substitute prescription drugs for pain management.

Ethosomes as Novel Vesicular Carrier: An Overview of the Principle, Preparation and its Applications.

BACKGROUND: In the study of lipid vesicular carriers in permeation enhancement of drug molecules across skin after the success story of liposomes, ethosomes are a recent addition. There are a number of published reviews but still, there is a lack of reviews representing various aspects in a systematic way with a detailed description of current research works. This review serves to fill this deficiency along with special emphasize on its preparation methods and applications. METHODS: Information was collected from previously published literatures which were represented after analysis in terms of various aspects such as principles, composition, preparation, mechanism of penetration, modified forms, characterization, marketed preparations and its applications. RESULT: This review is represented in an informative and easily understandable way. Basic principles and background were covered in the introduction section. Composition section contains the basic components of formulations along with the impact of various parameters on the characterization of the ethosome. A detailed discussion of all the methods along with their own utility is elaborately provided. Various aspects of characterization studies of ethosomes are also discussed. Therapeutic and cosmetic applications of ethosomes are also outlined here. CONCLUSION: In spite of having a excellent permeation-enhancing and targeted drug release profile, ethosome suffers from limited commercialization. Various challenges regarding their commercialization and product development are also discussed in this review with an objective of acting as a directional route for the researchers.