The Effects of Solid and Liquid Lipids on the Physicochemical Properties of Nanostructured Lipid Carriers

The aim of this work was to identify from a review of current literature the effects of lipids used in the development of Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLCs) on the physicochemical properties of the resulting formulation. The size of the solid lipid, affected by the molecular weight and the complexity of the structure, tends to affect the particle size of the final formulation proportionally; the higher the molecular weight and the more complex the molecular structure, the bigger the particle size of the NLCs. However, there is no straight correlation between the size and the structure of the liquid lipid and the particle size. Moreover, there seems to be a correlation of the solid to liquid lipid ratio which affects the particle size; there has been a trend of increasing particle size when more solid lipid was used. Regarding the entrapment efficiency, it is highly affected by the drug and its interaction with the lipids, as its solubility in the lipids needs to be high so the drug can stay entrapped within the lipid core. There was no direct correlation between the type of lipid used or the ratio and the zeta potential, which affects the stability of the NLCs. (c) 2021 American Pharmacists Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study aimed to identify the effects of lipids on the physicochemical properties of Nanostructured Lipid Carriers (NLCs) through literature review. The size of solid lipid and its complexity tend to affect the particle size of the final formulation, while the ratio of solid to liquid lipid can influence the particle size and stability of NLCs. Entrapment efficiency is highly dependent on drug-lipid interaction and solubility, with no direct correlation found between lipids used and zeta potential.