Unlocking the potential of beta-glucans: a comprehensive review from synthesis to drug delivery carrier potency

Modernization and lifestyle changes have resulted in a number of diseases, including cancer, that require complicated and thorough treatments. One of the most important therapies is the administration of antibiotics and medicines. This is known as chemotherapy for cancer, and it is a regularly utilised treatment plan in which the medications used have negative side effects. This has resulted in extensive research on materials capable of delivering pharmaceuticals to particular targets over an extended period of time. Biopolymers have often been preferred as effective drug delivery carriers. Of these, beta-glucan, a natural polysaccharide, has not been extensively studied as a drug delivery carrier, despite its unique properties. This review discusses the sources, extraction techniques, structures, and characteristics of beta-glucan to provide an overview. Furthermore, the different methods employed to encapsulate drugs into beta-glucan and its role as an efficient drug, SiRNA and Plasmid DNA carrier have been elaborated in this article. The capacity of beta-glucan-based to specifically target and alter tumour-associated macrophages, inducing an immune response ultimately resulting in tumour suppression has been elaborated. Finally, this study aims to stimulate further research on beta-glucan by thoroughly describing its many characteristics and demonstrating its effectiveness as a drug delivery vehicle.