Natural Bioenhancers: An overview

Abstract

Bioenhancers are chemical entities which promote and augment the bioavailability of the drugs which are mixed with them and do not exhibit synergistic effect with the drug. The need for bioenhancers arises due to drugs which are poorly available, administered for long periods, toxic and expensive. Bioenhancers can be classified based on their natural origin as well as based on the various mechanisms elicited by them when in combination with drugs to improve their bioavailability. The various bioenhancers available are piperine, garlic, Carum carvi, Cuminum cynimum, lysergol, naringin, quercetin, niaziridin, glycyrrhizin, stevia, cow urine distillate ginger. Out of these, Cuminum cynimum and niaziridin are the potential bioenhancers of future. Therefore, the need of the hour is to carry out extensive research on these bioenhancers so that they could be utilised in the drug formulations