SLNs: An Overview, Preparation Techniques, Evaluations And Applications In Pharmacy
Patel Premda*, Sachin Chauhan, AK Seth
Department of Pharmacy, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth, Vadodara – 391760
Current challenge to conventional drug delivery systems is to liberate a drug at
right time in a safe and reproducible manner to a specific targeted site. Targeted
delivery is one of the most important aspects of a drug delivery system to convey
the accurate and desired dose of the drugs and diagnostic agents to the specific
targeted site with the aid of suitable carriers.
The review aims majorly on four areas namely: Architecturing, Synthesis,
Properties & Applications of the solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs). The unique
architectural design of SLNs like globular architecture and well-defined molecular
weight, clearly distinguishes these structures as unique and optimum nanocarriers
in medical applications such as drug delivery, gene transfection, tumor therapy,
diagnostics, etc. Synthetic approaches lead to architecture with properties
amenable to modifications of shape, size, polarity, surface properties and internal
structure. Nanoparticle drug-delivery systems are the popular ones as are able to
increase the selectivity and stability of therapeutic agents. However
reticuloendothelial system (RES) uptake, drug leakage, immunogenicity, hemolytic
toxicity, cytotoxicity, hydrophobicity restrict the use of these nanostructures. These
shortcomings are overcome by surface engineering the SLNs. The bioactive agents
can be easily encapsulated into the interior of the SLNs or chemically attached i.e.
conjugated or physically adsorbed onto the SLNs surface, serving the desired
properties of the carrier to the specific needs of the active material and its
therapeutic applications. In addition to supplying a multivalent backbone for drug
attachment, SLNs also provide access to various new polymer architectures that
are potentially relevant to drug delivery applications. This paper basically reviews
types of SLNs, principles of drug loading and models of drug incorporation. The
future direction of research and clinical implications of SLNs is also considered.