[Nanoscale drug carriers for traditional Chinese medicine research and development]

Nanocarriers generally made of natural or artificial polymers ranging in size from about 10-1 000 nm, possess versatile properties suitable for drug delivery, including good biocompatibility and biodegradability, potential capability of targeted delivery and controlled release of incorporated drugs, and have been extensively used in the development of new drug delivery systems (DDS). These types of nano-DDS have considerable potential to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and recently have attracted increasing efforts on the TCM research and development. In this review, the recently published literature worldwide is covered to describe the latest advances in the applications as TCM delivery carriers, and to highlight the characteristics and preparation methods of some selected examples of promising nanocarriers such as nanoparticles, lipid nanoparticles, nanoemulsions, nanomicelles and nanoliposomes.