Chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes demand advanced drug delivery methods that can accommodate precise, sustained, and targeted release of active compounds. Existing drug carriers such as conventional capsules are limited by issues like poor bioavailability, mechanical fragility, and unpredictable release patterns. With the global drug delivery market expected to surpass USD 1.8 trillion by 2028, it is crucial to address these challenges. Additionally, there is a growing need to develop biocompatible systems that can mitigate concerns about toxicity, environmental impact, and patient compliance. Here, we review the latest advancements in composite drug capsules, focusing on key aspects such as controlled drug release, mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and antimicrobial potential. Composite materials offer customised release mechanisms by combining synthetic and natural polymers. This has led to improvements in stability, encapsulation efficiency, and bioavailability. Some noteworthy advancements in this field include the development of magnetic-responsive systems for targeted therapies, alginate-based dual-release systems, and solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) for gene delivery. For example, the encapsulation of lycopene in whey protein composites achieved an impressive encapsulation efficiency of 94%, showcasing enhanced delivery performance. Additionally, there have been developments in pH-sensitive capsules designed for cancer treatment, which release drugs selectively in tumour environments. Furthermore, multifunctional magnetic capsules have been created to facilitate MRI imaging and remote-controlled drug release. Moreover, pH-sensitive alginate-based capsules have proven effective in improving the therapeutic outcomes of cancer treatments by ensuring drug release specifically within the acidic tumour microenvironment. Other notable achievements include the integration of antioxidant nanoparticles, such as cerium oxide (CeO₂), into drug delivery systems, showing potential for mitigating oxidative stress and providing neuroprotection in inflammatory and neurodegenerative conditions. Despite these innovations, persistent challenges related to scalability, regulatory clearance, and enduring biocompatibility necessitate further investigation. These combined capsules possess significant potential, presenting more intelligent, adaptable drug delivery systems positioned to transform personalised medicine and future healthcare solutions.

According to the World Health Organization, women's breast cancer is among the most common cancers with 7.8 million diagnosed cases during 2016-2020 and encompasses 15 % of all female cancer-related mortalities. These mortality events from triple-negative breast cancer are a significant health issue worldwide calling for a continuous search of bioactive compounds for better cancer treatments. Historically, plants are important sources for identifying such new bioactive chemicals for treatments. Here we use high-throughput screening and mass spectrometry analyses of extracts from 100 plant species collected in Chinese ancient forests to detect novel bioactive breast cancer phytochemicals. First, to study the effects on viability of the plant extracts, we used a MTT and CCK-8 cytotoxicity assay employing triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) MDA-MB-231 and normal epithelial MCF-10A cell lines and cell cycle arrest to estimate apoptosis using flow cytometry for the most potent three speices. Based on these analyses, the final most potent extracts were from the Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) wood/root bark and Nigaki (Picrasma quassioides) wood/root bark. Then, 5 × 10⁶ MDA-MB-231 cells were injected subcutaneously into the right hind leg of nude mice and a tumour was allowed to grow before treatment for seven days. Subsequently, the four exposed groups received gavage extracts from Amur honeysuckle and Nigaki (Amur honeysuckle wood distilled water, Amur honeysuckle root bark ethanol, Nigaki wood ethanol or Nigaki root bark distilled water/ethanol (1:1) extracts) in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), while the control group received only PBS. The tumour weight of treated nude mice was reduced significantly by 60.5 % within 2 weeks, while on average killing 70 % of the MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells after 48 h treatment (MTT test). In addition, screening of target genes using the Swiss Target Prediction, STITCH, STRING and NCBI-gene database showed that the four plant extracts possess desirable activity towards several known breast cancer genes. This reflects that the extracts may kill MBD-MB-231 breast cancer cells. This is the first screening of plant extracts with high efficiency in 2 decades, showing promising results for future development of novel cancer treatments.