Natural Products and Their Derivatives in Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, and COVID-19: Mechanistic Insights, Formulation Strategies, and Therapeutic Potential
- 1Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
- 2Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
- 3Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA
Abstract
Natural compounds and their derivatives have traditionally made a significant contribution to pharmacotherapy, especially in cancer, cardiovascular, infectious, and COVID-19-related diseases. They offer significant advantages over traditional small molecules, including high structural diversity, rigid scaffold architecture and rich stereochemistry, and the ability to modulate multiple biological pathways and targets. Moreover, their use in traditional medicine provides valuable information for drug discovery; however, traditional uses alone do not establish their safety and efficacy. The development of natural products into clinically useful drugs remains challenging due to technical barriers in screening, isolation, characterization, and optimization, poor bioavailability, and patent and regulatory challenges. The current development of analytical technology and nanocarrier-based delivery systems, including polymeric nanoparticles, solid lipid nanoparticles, micelles, and liposomes, is addressing such challenges and limitations by improving drug stability, solubility, bioavailability, and targeted delivery. This has sparked interest in natural products as potential drugs for treating diseases like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and COVID-19-related diseases. Therefore, this review comprehensively discusses the mechanisms by which natural products exert their therapeutic effect and highlights recent advances in formulation and drug delivery strategies. It also summarizes current applications of formulation approaches and discusses their potential to improve the therapeutic efficacy and clinical translation of natural-based therapies. The review bridges mechanistic insights with innovative formulation strategies to provide a focused perspective on the potential of natural products for disease management.
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BibTeX
@article{rashid2026natural,
title = {{Natural Products and Their Derivatives in Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, and COVID-19: Mechanistic Insights, Formulation Strategies, and Therapeutic Potential}},
author = {Mamunur Rashid and Preha Handa and Amit Kolhe and Daryl J. Murry},
journal = {Biomolecules},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/biom16111579},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/16/11/1579},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Natural Products and Their Derivatives in Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, and COVID-19: Mechanistic Insights, Formulation Strategies, and Therapeutic Potential
AU - Mamunur Rashid
AU - Preha Handa
AU - Amit Kolhe
AU - Daryl J. Murry
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
JO - Biomolecules
DO - 10.3390/biom16111579
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/16/11/1579
AB - Natural compounds and their derivatives have traditionally made a significant contribution to pharmacotherapy, especially in cancer, cardiovascular, infectious, and COVID-19-related diseases. They offer significant advantages over traditional small molecules, including high structural diversity, rigid scaffold architecture and rich stereochemistry, and the ability to modulate multiple biological pathways and targets. Moreover, their use in traditional medicine provides valuable information for drug discovery; however, traditional uses alone do not establish their safety and efficacy. The development of natural products into clinically useful drugs remains challenging due to technical barriers in screening, isolation, characterization, and optimization, poor bioavailability, and patent and regulatory challenges. The current development of analytical technology and nanocarrier-based delivery systems, including polymeric nanoparticles, solid lipid nanoparticles, micelles, and liposomes, is addressing such challenges and limitations by improving drug stability, solubility, bioavailability, and targeted delivery. This has sparked interest in natural products as potential drugs for treating diseases like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and COVID-19-related diseases. Therefore, this review comprehensively discusses the mechanisms by which natural products exert their therapeutic effect and highlights recent advances in formulation and drug delivery strategies. It also summarizes current applications of formulation approaches and discusses their potential to improve the therapeutic efficacy and clinical translation of natural-based therapies. The review bridges mechanistic insights with innovative formulation strategies to provide a focused perspective on the potential of natural products for disease management.
SN - 2218-273X
ER -