Nanotoxicology applied to solid lipid nanoparticles and nanostructured lipid carriers - a systematic review of in vitro data

Abstract

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) were developed as alternative to other colloidal carriers. They were designed to overcome lipid nanoemulsions and liposomes in stability and ability to control the release of an encapsulated substance, and at the same time to be better tolerated than polymeric nanoparticles. Since the patenting of SLN discovery, large amount of data became available on the behaviour of these systems in vitro. SLN/NLC have many prerequisites to be a well tolerated carrier - the currently available data seem to confirm it, but there are also some contradictory results. In this review, we collected the available data from cytotoxicity, oxidative stress and hemocompatibility studies in vitro and analysed their outcomes. We also provide a summary of the available data in a form of reference table.

Keywords: Blood compatibility; Cytotoxicity; Genotoxicity; In vitro studies; Lipid nanoparticles; Nanostructured lipid carriers; Oxidative stress; Solid lipid nanoparticles.