A GLIMPSE ON SOLID LIPID NANOPARTICLES AS DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS

INTRODUCTION: In the recent past solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) are escalating at a faster rate. Solid lipid nanoparticles introduced in 1991, signify an alternative carrier system to traditional colloidal carriers, such as emulsions, liposomes and polymeric microand nanoparticles. SLN are sub-micron colloidal carriers ranging from 10 to 1000 nm, composed of physiological lipid dispersed in water or in aqueous surfactant solution. SLN offer unique properties such as small size, large surface area, high drug loading, and interaction of phases at the interface and are attractive for their potential to improve performance of pharmaceuticals. Nanoparticles are attracting major attention as novel colloidal drug carrier for intravenous applications as they have been proposed as an alternative particulate carrier system. Development of solid lipid nanoparticles is one of the emerging fields of lipid nanotechnology with numerous potential applications in drug delivery, clinical medicine and research, as well as in varied discipline. Particulate drug carriers investigated for many years include oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions, liposomes, microparticles and nanoparticles based on synthetic polymers or natural macromolecules. Solid lipid nanoparticles are one of the novel potential colloidal carrier systems as alternative materials to polymers which is identical to oil in water emulsion for parenteral nutrition, but the liquid lipid of the emulsion has been replaced by a solid lipid shown on Fig. 1. They have many advantages such as good biocompatibility, low toxicity and lipophilic drugs are better delivered by solid lipid nanoparticles and the system is physically stable. 2