中药微粒制剂的研究进展

Research progress of microparticles as drug delivery system for traditional Chinese medicine

微球和微囊通称为微粒,是借助微囊化技术发展起来的一种新型给药系统。近年来研究人员开始将微粒型给药系统应用于中药制剂的开发,提高中药药效同时降低其不良反应,创制安全、有效、稳定、可控的现代中药制剂。尽管中药微粒制剂的研究还处于起步阶段,但已展示出其巨大的应用价值和广阔的市场前景。作者对微粒制剂在中药单体化合物、单味中药有效成分提取物和中药复方中的应用进行了综述。

Microparticle preparation, a new drug delivery system based on microencapsulation technique, includes microspheres and mierocapsules. Recently, this new drug delivery system has been applied in developing new dosage forms for the traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）. TCM microparticles can perform several sound characteristics and functions which are currently unavailable in TCM preparations, such as controlled release, effect of targeting, increasing bioavailability or low toxicity. This makes it possible that TCM may exert much higher therapeutic efficacy and show lower side-effects as well. Although the studies on TCM microparticles are still in the beginning stage, microparticle preparation of TCM has given rise to comprehensive attention and will have a wonderful prospect. The progress in this field is reviewed in this article.