Functionalized Nanostructured Bioactive Carriers: Nanoliposomes, Quantum Dots, Tocosome, and Theranostic Approach

Background: Lipid nanocarriers have great potential for the encapsulation and delivery of numerous bioactive compounds. They have demonstrated significant benefits over traditional disease management and conventional therapy. The benefits associated with the particular properties of lipid nanocarriers include site-specific drug deposition, improved pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, enhanced internalization and intracellular transport, biodegradability, and decreased biodistribution. These properties result in the alleviation of the harmful consequences of conventional treatment protocols. Materials & Methods: The administration of various bioactive molecules has been extensively investigated using nanostructured lipid carriers. In this article, theranostic applications of novel formulations of lipid nanocarriers combined or complexed with quantum dots, certain polymers, such as chitosan, and metallic nanoparticles (particularly gold) are reviewed. These formulations have demonstrated better controlled release features, improved drug loading capability, as well as a lower burst release rate. As a recent innovation in drug delivery, tocosomes and their unique advantages are also explained in the final section of this review. Results and Conclusion: Theranostic medicine requires nanocarriers with improved target-specific accumulation and bio-distribution. To this end, lipid-based nanocarrier systems and tocosomes combined with unique properties of quantum dots, biocompatible polymers, and metallic nanoparticles seem to be ideal candidates to be considered for safe and efficient drug delivery.