Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology - Online First

Nanoparticles are a significant topic due to their applications in various fields, including biology, optics, catalysis, pharmaceutics, health, agriculture, and industry, with biosynthesis processes being quick, easy, and environmentally friendly. Due to their applications across multiple industries, silver nanoparticles, or AgNPs, have become the most desired nanoparticles with the recent development of nanotechnology. The physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of AgNPs are being studied. These characteristics are crucial for limiting the hazards associated with silver nanoparticles while optimizing their potential applications in many fields. A higher degree of toxicity in both the environment and living things could arise from the increasing use of silver nanoparticles in the product. Silver nanoparticles find application in wound care, anti-infective therapy, food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. As antioxidant, antiviral, anticancer, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, and microbiological agents, silver nanoparticles are widely used. Not only must the particles be nanoscale in order for silver nanoparticles to be present, but their production must also be simple and inexpensive to achieve. This paper aims to review the different methods of synthesis of silver nanoparticles, properties, characterization, and their applications. In specific, several chemical and green synthesis approaches for synthesising silver nanoparticles have been discussed. The morphology, size, thermal properties, toxicity properties, electrical properties, catalytic properties, and applications of silver nanoparticles are focused. The main focus is on the effective and efficient synthesis of pure silver nanoparticles and their potential applications.

A nanocarrier is a novel colloidal system whose particle size ranges between 1-100 nm. It is extensively utilized in drug delivery and various other sectors, such as the pharmaceutical, food, and dairy industries. The nanocarrier systems, including solid lipid nanoparticles, micelles, liposomes, and other encapsulated compounds, have improved stability, solubility, bioavailability, and quality. Nanocarriers offer therapeutic effectiveness with low toxicity because of their biocompatibility and ability to cross body barriers. Various analytical techniques, such as chromatography and spectroscopy, are crucial in qualitative and quantitative analysis of nanocarrier-based formulations. Molecular identification and drug content determination require chromatographic techniques, particularly HPLC. Spectroscopic techniques such as LC-MS, NMR, GC-MS, CE-MS, Raman, and IR are used to analyze the interaction and molecular structure of the sample. Nanocarriers have several benefits but face various challenges like stability, drug loading, regulatory standards, and biocompatibility. Future surface engineering and nanocarrier design advancements could improve targeted drug delivery and sustained diagnostic applications, significantly impacting healthcare.

The emergence of lipid-based nanoparticulate systems has significantly reshaped the landscape of drug delivery. This review aims to encapsulate the advancements, challenges, and potential of lipid-based nanoparticulate drug delivery in modern therapeutics. Lipid-based nanoparticles, including liposomes, lipid nanoparticles, and solid lipid nanoparticles, harness the biocompatibility and biodegradability of lipids to encapsulate and deliver a diverse range of therapeutic agents. This platform offers solutions to various drug delivery challenges, such as enhancing drug solubility and bio- availability, achieving controlled and sustained release, targeted delivery, and co-delivery of multi-agents. These nanoparticles have demonstrated potential in overcoming biological barriers, including the blood-brain barrier, mucosal barriers, and cellular barriers, enabling the delivery of drugs to previously inaccessible sites. Biocompatibility and reduced toxicity are intrinsic attributes of lipid-based nanoparticles, minimizing immune responses and systemic toxicity while promoting personalized medicine possibilities. However, challenges in formulation, stability, and regulatory approval underscore the need for ongoing research and innovation in this field.

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) are one of the extensively utilized nanocarriers in the pharmaceutical field due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. These features of the carrier system have fuelled its use as the drug delivery system since the last three decades. This review presents different SLN preparation techniques, such as high shear homogenization, hot homogenization, cold homogenization, microemulsion-based technique, etc. The physicochemical nature of SLNs, comprising drug loading, drug release, particle size, zeta potential, stability, cytotoxicity, and cellular uptake, has been concisely discussed. The article also explains why SLNs are preferred to develop drug delivery systems in several pharmaceutical preparations. The key ingredients like lipid, surfactant/stabilizer accompanied by co-surfactant, cryoprotectant, or charge modifiers used to fabricate SLNs are also briefly conferred. Here is an elaborate discussion of drugs that are used through various routes by the SLN carrier system and their outcome for utilization of this system. Regulatory aspects, patent aspects, and future prospects of SLN are also discussed here.

Liquid crystalline lipid nanoparticles (LCNPs) represent a type of membrane-based nano-carriers formed through the self-assembly of lyotropic lipids. These lipids, such as unsaturated monoglycerides, phospholipids, and co-lipids, create liquid crystals or vesicles with an aqueous core enclosed by a natural or synthetic phospholipid bilayer upon exposure to an aqueous medium. Liquid crystalline lipid nanoparticles (LCNPs), akin to liposomes, have garnered significant attention as nanocarriers suitable for a diverse range of hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules. Their notable structural advantage lies in a mono-channel network organization and the presence of multiple compartments, resulting in heightened encapsulation efficiency for various substances. Cubosomes, spongosomes, hexosomes, and multicompartment nanoparticles are examples of lipid nanocarriers with interior liquid crystalline structures that have recently gained a lot of interest as effective drug delivery systems. Additionally, LCNPs facilitate the sustained release of encapsulated compounds, including therapeutic macromolecules. This review delves into the structure of liquid crystalline lipid nanoparticles, explores preparation techniques, and outlines their applications in the context of skin cancer.