Nanostructured Lipid Carrier Systems for Targeted Drug Delivery
Summary
Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) represent a second generation of lipid-based nanocarriers designed to optimise the delivery of therapeutic agents to specific tissues and cells. Formed from blends of solid and liquid lipids stabilised by surfactants, NLCs combine high drug loading capacity with controlled release profiles, enhanced stability and low toxicity. The lipid matrix offers biocompatibility and evades rapid clearance, while surface engineering enables active targeting through ligand attachment or charge modification. This versatility allows NLCs to improve the solubility of poorly water-soluble drugs, protect labile molecules, cross biological barriers such as the blood–brain barrier via intranasal or intravenous routes, and achieve site-specific accumulation. Recent advances have focused on tailoring particle size, surface charge and lipid composition to modulate pharmacokinetics, reduce off-target effects and overcome multidrug resistance in oncology, neurology and infectious disease. With scalable manufacturing techniques such as high-pressure homogenisation, melt-emulsification and microemulsion methods, NLCs have moved rapidly from bench to early clinical evaluation, underscoring their global significance for precision medicine and improved patient outcomes.
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Nanostructured Lipid Carrier Systems for Targeted Drug Delivery publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in nanostructured lipid carrier systems for targeted drug delivery across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC): A colloidal delivery system composed of solid and liquid lipids stabilised by surfactants, designed to encapsulate and release drugs in a controlled manner.
Entrapment efficiency: The percentage of drug incorporated into the carrier relative to the total amount used in formulation, indicating loading capacity.
Polydispersity index (PDI): A measure of the uniformity of particle size distribution; values below 0.2 indicate a narrowly dispersed system.
Zeta potential: The electrical potential at the particle surface, influencing colloidal stability and interactions with biological membranes.
References
- Solid Lipid Nanoparticles vs. Nanostructured Lipid Carriers: A Comparative Review. Pharmaceutics (2023).
- Chitosan-coated nanostructured lipid carriers for effective brain delivery of Tanshinone IIA in Parkinson’s disease: interplay between nuclear factor-kappa β and cathepsin B. Drug Delivery and Translational Research (2023).
- Nanostructured Lipid Carriers for Delivery of Chemotherapeutics: A Review. Pharmaceutics (2020).
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