Solid Lipid Nanoparticles: Multitasking Nano-Carriers for Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Despite all the advances seen in recent years, the severe adverse effects and low specificity of conventional chemotherapy are still challenging problems regarding cancer treatment. Nanotechnology has helped to address these questions, making important contributions in the oncological field. The use of nanoparticles has allowed the improvement of the therapeutic index of several conventional drugs and facilitates the tumoral accumulation and intracellular delivery of complex biomolecules, such as genetic material. Among the wide range of nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems (nanoDDS), solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) have emerged as promising systems for delivering different types of cargo. Their solid lipid core, at room and body temperature, provides SLNs with higher stability than other formulations. Moreover, SLNs offer other important features, namely the possibility to perform active targeting, sustained and controlled release, and multifunctional therapy. Furthermore, with the possibility to use biocompatible and physiologic materials and easy scale-up and low-cost production methods, SLNs meet the principal requirements of an ideal nanoDDS. The present work aims to summarize the main aspects related to SLNs, including composition, production methods, and administration routes, as well as to show the most recent studies about the use of SLNs for cancer treatment.

Advances in Nanoparticles in the Prevention and Treatment of Myocardial Infarction

“…The solid lipid nanoparticle group loaded with both drugs had the smallest myocardial infarct size and high healing compared to the other control groups. In addition to conventional oral delivery, solid lipid nanoparticles can be used as carriers for intranasal, dermal, ocular, and pulmonary delivery [ 65 ].…”

Smart Targeted Delivery Systems for Enhancing Antitumor Therapy of Active Ingredients in Traditional Chinese Medicine

“…However, SLNs still have some limitations, including poor stability during storage, particle size growth, or drug degradation. In addition, it is easy to form a structure with perfect crystals and reduce the space for drug loading [ 43 , 44 , 45 ]. To address these limitations of SLNs, researchers have explored nanostructured lipid carriers as a potential solution.…”

New insights into nanosystems for non-small-cell lung cancer: diagnosis and treatment

“…1B), having a close relationship with liposomes described above but featuring much higher drug loading capacity, are colloidal nanocarriers with a diameter ranging from 50 nm to 1000 nm and are constructed using scattering melted solid lipid in emulsier-added water. [64][65][66] It was rst introduced as an effective and promising alternative in 1991 to make up for deciencies of emulsions, liposomes, and polymeric systems, representing a more excellent vehicle for drug delivery. 67 SLNs usually consist of solid lipids with the drug either loaded on the surface or entrapped inside the cavity.…”

“…Generally, there are two types of magnetic nanoparticles employed in medical imaging: one is SIONs with a mean hydrodynamic diameter (HD) of >50 nm, involving the feruxomides (Endorem [Guerbet Villepinte, France] or Feridex IV [Advanced Magnetics, Cambridge, MA], the other is ultrasmall SIONs (USIONs) with an HD <50 nm, such as Ferumoxtran-10 (Advanced Magnetics, Cambridge, MA). 113 Park et al, in 2020 synthetized 64 Cu-labeled folateconjugated SIONs for positron emission tomography (PET)/ MRI-based diagnosis of cancer. The new type of SIONs showed excellent performance in lung (A549) cancer cell lines.…”