Essential Oils and Isolated Terpenes in Nanosystems Designed for Topical Administration: A Review
by
Sheila P. de Matos 1, Helder F. Teixeira 1, Ádley A. N. de Lima 2, Valdir F. Veiga-Junior 3
and Letícia S. Koester 1,*
Sheila P. de Matos 1, Helder F. Teixeira 1, Ádley A. N. de Lima 2, Valdir F. Veiga-Junior 3 and Letícia S. Koester 1,*
1
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Ipiranga, 2752, Porto Alegre 90610-000, Brazil
2
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Farmacêuticas, Departamento de Farmácia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Av. General Cordeiro de Farias, s/n, Petrópolis, Natal 59012-570, Brazil
3
Departamento de Engenharia Química, Instituto Militar de Engenharia, Praça Gen. Tibúrcio, 80, Praia Vermelha, Urca, Rio de Janeiro 22290-270, Brazil
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Biomolecules 2019, 9(4), 138; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom9040138
Received: 8 March 2019 / Revised: 1 April 2019 / Accepted: 2 April 2019 / Published: 5 April 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation and formulation of Bioactive Terpenes)
Essential oils are natural products with a complex composition. Terpenes are the most common class of chemical compounds present in essential oils. Terpenes and the essential oils containing them are widely used and investigated by their pharmacological properties and permeation-enhancing ability. However, many terpenes and essential oils are sensitive to environmental conditions, undergoing volatilization and chemical degradation. In order to overcome the chemical instability of some isolated terpenes and essential oils, the encapsulation of these compounds in nanostructured systems (polymeric, lipidic, or molecular complexes) has been employed. In addition, nanoencapsulation can be of interest for pharmaceutical applications due to its capacity to improve the bioavailability and allow the controlled release of drugs. Topical drug administration is a convenient and non-invasive administration route for both local and systemic drug delivery. The present review focuses on describing the current status of research concerning nanostructured delivery systems containing isolated terpenes and/or essential oils designed for topical administration and on discussing the use of terpenes and essential oils either for their biological activities or as permeation enhancers in pharmaceutic formulations.
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MDPI and ACS Style
de Matos, S.P.; Teixeira, H.F.; de Lima, Á.A.N.; Veiga-Junior, V.F.; Koester, L.S. Essential Oils and Isolated Terpenes in Nanosystems Designed for Topical Administration: A Review. Biomolecules 2019, 9, 138.
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