Solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructured lipid carrier-based nanotherapeutics for the treatment of psoriasis

Introduction Psoriasis is an auto-immune inflammatory skin disease affecting people worldwide. Its topical therapy via different nanoformulations prevents the long-term side-effects of conventional formulations. Nanocarriers, especially solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs), pose extra benefits in topical drug delivery due to their lipid constituents. Although both natural and synthetic anti-psoriatic drugs have been successfully incorporated in these nanoformulations, yet further studies including dual drug-loadings are being carried out for assessing their efficacy. Areas covered This review aims at describing the different aspects of SLNs and NLCs in psoriasis, including their skin permeation behavior and the various drug molecules incorporated. The recent studies with single- and dual drug-loaded SLNs and NLCs have also been discussed in the review. Expert opinion SLNs and NLCs have been very effective in mitigating psoriasis when compared to commercial formulations. They have also shown promising results when loaded with two drugs, thus overcoming drawbacks of traditional combination therapy. Therefore, various drug/antibody/siRNA combinations can be selected in the upcoming research works to evaluate their synergistic performance against psoriasis. However, the conclusions drawn so far are only based on the pre-clinical studies and hence further investigations are required to obtain their clinical trial outcomes.

Automated summary

This review highlights the use of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) in treating psoriasis, with a focus on their skin permeation behavior and incorporation of different drug molecules. The discussion also includes recent studies on single- and dual drug-loaded SLNs and NLCs, showing promising results in mitigating psoriasis and overcoming the limitations of traditional combination therapy. Further research is needed to evaluate the synergistic performance of various drug/antibody/siRNA combinations against psoriasis in clinical trials.