NANOSTRUCTURED LIPID CARRIERS: A NOVEL STRATEGY FOR TRANSDERMAL DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS

Abstract

Drug administration via the skin is one of the most conventionally used methods where the flux through the skin is the rate-limiting step. Safe carriers are used to provide the anticipated therapeutic effects, which play a vital role in drug delivery. A nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) is a binary mixture of solid and liquid lipids and surfactants. The lipid nature and nano size of these carriers contribute to the skin penetration of therapeutic agents. These carriers have a wide variety of advantages, such as good biocompatibility, low cytotoxicity, high drug quality and increased stability. This paper deliberates the suitability of NLCs in transdermal drug delivery, their properties, the methods of preparation and their applications.