Recent Developments in Solid Lipid Microparticles for Food Ingredients Delivery

Health food has become a prominent force in the market place, influencing many food industries to focus on numerous bioactive compounds to reap benefits from its properties. Use of these compounds in food matrices has several limitations. Most of the food bio-additives are sensitive compounds that may quickly decompose in both food and within the gastrointestinal tract. Since most of these bioactives are highly or partially lipophilic molecules, they possess very low water solubility and insufficient dispersibility, leading to poor bioavailability. Thus, various methods of microencapsulation of large number of food bioactives have been studied. For encapsulation of hydrophobic compounds several lipid carriers and lipid platforms have been studied, including emulsions, microemulsions, micelles, liposomes, and lipid nano- and microparticles. Solid lipid particles (SLP) are a promising delivery system, can both deliver bioactive compounds, reduce their degradation, and permit slow and sustained release. Solid lipid particles have important advantages compared to other polymer carriers in light of their simple production technology, including scale up ability, higher loading capacity, extremely high biocompatibility, and usually low cost. This delivery system provides improved stability, solubility in various matrixes, bioavailability, and targeting properties. This article reviews recent studies on microencapsulation of selected bioactive food ingredients in solid lipid-based carriers from a point of view of production methods, characteristics of obtained particles, loading capability, stability, and release profile.

Solid Lipid Particles for Lung Metastasis Treatment

Solid lipid particles (SLPs) can sustainably encapsulate and release therapeutic agents over long periods, modifying their biodistribution, toxicity, and side effects. To date, no studies have been reported using SLPs loaded with doxorubicin chemotherapy for the treatment of metastatic cancer. This study characterizes the effect of doxorubicin-loaded carnauba wax particles in the treatment of lung metastatic malignant melanoma in vivo. Compared with the free drug, intravenously administrated doxorubicin-loaded SLPs significantly reduce the number of pulmonary metastatic foci in mice. In vitro kinetic studies show two distinctive drug release profiles. A first chemotherapy burst-release wave occurs during the first 5 h, which accounts for approximately 30% of the entrapped drug rapidly providing therapeutic concentrations. The second wave occurs after the arrival of the particles to the final destination in the lung. This release is sustained for long periods (>40 days), providing constant levels of chemotherapy in situ that trigger the inhibition of metastatic growth. Our findings suggest that the use of chemotherapy with loaded SLPs could substantially improve the effectiveness of the drug locally, reducing side effects while improving overall survival.

Solid Lipid Particle-loaded Ocimum Gratissimum Seed Films and Polymeric Films for Controlled Drug Delivery

Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the formation of polymeric and Ocimum gratissimum seed films containing solid lipid particles for controlled drug release. Methods: The hot homogeneous method was selected to form solid lipid particles containing sodium fusidate to load the drug into the film. The in vitro drug release and drug permeability of the films were tested with dialysis tubes and the Franz diffusion cell method, respectively. The mucoadhesive time and swelling and erosion rates were also studied. Results: The solid lipid particles showed the ability to form Ocimum gratissimum seed and polymeric films for use in drug delivery. Although the polymeric matrix yielded excellent swelling and erosion rates, leading to a faster drug release rate and drug permeation than that of the Ocimum gratissimum seed film, the mucoadhesive time of the polymer film was worse than that of the seed film. Conclusion: Therefore, the characteristics of the individual systems may be further studied in a combined system to take full advantage of both in the desired film.

Lipid and PLGA Microparticles for Sustained Delivery of Protein and Peptide Drugs

Solid lipid particles have a great potential in sustained drug delivery, the lipid excipients are solid at room temperature with a slow degradation rate. Poly (D, L-lactic-coglycolic acid) (PLGA) has been successfully clinically applied for the sustained delivery of peptide drugs. A recent study showed the advantage of hybrid PLGA-lipid microparticles (MPs) over PLGA MPs for the sustained delivery of peptide drug in vivo. In this paper, we briefly present PLGA MPs, solid lipid MPs and PLGA lipid hybrid MP prepared by the double emulsion method and the spray drying method and discuss the effects of excipients on encapsulation efficiency of protein and peptide drugs in the MPs. The pros and cons of PLGA MPs, solid lipid MPs and PLGA lipid hybrid MP as carriers for sustained delivery of protein and peptide drugs are also discussed.

Advance on the nano delivery system of curcumin

Curcumin has various physiological functions such as anti-oxidation, anti-cancer and prevention of Alzheimer's disease, but its poor water solubility and unstable physicochemical property limits the development and application of curcumin. The nano delivery carriers for curcumin prepared by nanotechnology can effectively solve these problems above. This paper summarized the research reports and literatures at home and abroad in recent years, categorized the nanocarriers of curcumin and analysed the definitions, preparation methods, properties and features, advantages and disadvantages of nano-emulsion, solid lipid particles, liposome, cyclodextrin inclusion compound respectively. In addition, this paper predicted application prospects of curcumin in the fields of food and medicine and provided references for the comprehensive development and utilization of curcumin.