Effective Delivery Routes and Strategies for Solid Lipid Nanoparticles (SLN) and Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLC)

SLNs and NLCs have remarkably wide range of properties which make them useful for several potential applications in drug delivery, clinical medicine, and research, as well as in parenteral, dermal, pulmonary and topical delivery of drugs. The unique size-dependent properties of the solid lipid nanoparticles make them at the forefront of the rapidly developing field of nanotechnology offering development of new therapeutics having reduced toxic side effects and increased treatment efficacy.

SLNs and NLCs are very attractive drug delivery candidates, primarily due to their relatively stable constituents and probable ease of drug encapsulations. The incorporation of drugs into nanocarriers like SLNs and NLCs for several levels of drug targeting offers good potential in gene transfer, cosmetic and food industry with great promise for reaching the goal of controlled and site-specific drug delivery. Lipid nanoparticle drug delivery technology presents considerable opportunities for improving medical therapeutics, but the technology's potential remains unrealized.

The review has focused on the various effective delivery routes and strategies for SLNs and NLCs, and their applicability in the encapsulation of therapeutics. Number of research works has been successfully carried out in this area. It would result in a simultaneous improvement in the quality, efficacy, and safety profile of drugs.

However, because of mentioned limitations and difficulties related to them, the total number of products on the market is still limited. Although the concept of PEGylation to increase half-life of nanoparticles revolutionized the nanoparticle-mediated drug-delivery field, significant improvements are warranted in this area.