Chapter 5 - Lipid nanocarriers: Preparation, characterization and absorption mechanism and applications to improve oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs

Abstract

Lipid nanocarriers have recently emerged as a novel approach for oral drug administration as the latest development of lipid-based drug delivery system. This chapter will focus in detail on the lipid nanocarriers, such as solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), nanostructured lipid carries (NLCs), and lipid-drug conjugates (LDCs), along with their advantages over the other oral drug delivery approaches. This chapter comprises the various fabrication techniques of drug-loaded lipid nanocarriers and the selection of the components and technique based on the drug and lipid characteristics to improve the oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs. Following the fabrication of drug-loaded lipid nanocarriers, their characterizations and drug absorption mechanisms will be discussed. Finally, this chapter reviews the recent developments of SLNs, NLCs, and LDCs and their applications to pharmaceutical development along with the future direction.