Topical and Transdermal Benefits of Nanostructured Lipid Carriers

Lipid based carriers (solid lipid nanoparticles-SLN and nanostructured lipid carriers-NLC) were developed at the beginning of the 90s and has been extensively used for topical and transdermal delivery of pharmaceuticals and cosmeceuticals. Among them, NLC's are widely accepted for maintaining drug stability, improving drug therapy, solubilizing poorly water soluble drugs, achieving controlled and sustained drug delivery and reduced toxicity. This review article discusses different formulations and characterization techniques and discusses how NLCs can penetrate the skin barrier. Further, overview on the current state of the art of NLCs as therapeutic and cosmetic formulations are also discussed in detail. The study highlights the reported data on oral bioavailability and toxicological studies and how these NLC's can be employed as promising drug delivery systems for novel treatments in the near future.