Multifaceted roles of pollen in the management of cancer

• Published in: International journal of pharmaceutics Vol. 643; p. 123278
• Main Authors: Kolipaka, Tejaswini, Khairnar, Pooja, Phatale, Vivek, Pandey, Giriraj, Famta, Paras, Shah, Saurabh, Asthana, Amit, Nanduri, Srinivas, Raghuvanshi, Rajeev Singh, Srivastava, Saurabh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 25.08.2023
• Subjects: Cancer; Oral drug delivery; Pollen; Pollen extract; Sporopollenin exine capsule; Pollen; Oral drug delivery; Sporopollenin exine capsule; Pollen extract; Cancer
• ISSN: 0378-5173; 1873-3476
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2023.123278

[Display omitted] •Emphasis on pollen, its structural properties, and chemical structural elucidation.•Extraction and characterization techniques of sporopollenin exine capsules (SEC).•Emphasis on SEC as a microcarrier and scaffold in cancer therapy.•The anti-cancer activity shown by pollen constituents has been highlighted.•Importance and significance of the regulatory perspective in aspect to pollen. Oral drug delivery of microparticles demonstrates shortcomings like aggregation, decreased loading capacity and batch-to-batch variation, which limits its scale-up. Later, porous structures gained attention because of their large surface-to-volume ratio, high loading capacity and ability to carry biomacromolecules, which undergo degradation in GIT. But there are pitfalls like non-uniform particle size distribution, the impact of porogen properties, and harsh chemicals. To circumvent these drawbacks, natural carriers like pollen are explored in drug delivery, which withstands harsh environments. This property helps to subdue the acid-sensitive drug in GIT. It shows uniform particle size distribution within the species. On the other side, they contain phytoconstituents like flavonoids and polysaccharides, which possess various pharmacological applications. Therefore, pollen has the capability as a carrier system and therapeutic agent. This review focuses on pollen's microstructure, composition and utility in cancer management. The extraction strategies, characterisation techniques and chemical structure of sporopollenin exine capsule, its use in the oral delivery of antineoplastic drugs, and emerging cancer treatments like photothermal therapy, immunotherapy and microrobots have been highlighted. We have mentioned a note on the anticancer activity of pollen extract. Further, we have summarised the regulatory perspective, bottlenecks and way forward associated with pollen.