Physical and chemical stability of nanostructured lipid drug carriers (NLC) based on natural lipids from Baikal region (Siberia, Russia).

At the turn of the millennium, a new generation of lipid nanoparticles for pharmacology was developed, nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC). The features of NLC structure which allow the inclusion of natural biologically active lipids in the NLC matrix open a wide prospect for the creation of high performance drug carriers. In this study NLC formulations were developed based on natural lipids from the Siberia region (Russia): fish oil from Lake Baikal fish; polyunsaturated fatty acid fractions and monounsaturated and saturated fatty acid fractions from fish oil and Siberian pine seed oil. Formulation parameters of NLC such as as type of surfactant and storage conditions were evaluated. The data obtained indicated high physical stability of NLC formulated on the basis of pure fish oil stabilized by Tween 80 and NLC formulated on the basis of free fatty acids stabilized by Poloxamer 188. The good chemical stability of the lipid matrix and the high concentrations of the biologically active polyunsaturated fatty acids in the NLC developed open wide prospects for their use in pharmaceutics and cosmetics.

Perspectives on the use of marine and freshwater hydrobiont oils for development of drug delivery systems.

Marine foods represent a unique source of poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) of the omega-3 (n-3) family. Today it is generally accepted that fish oil is important in a healthy and balanced omnivorous human diet. This favorable health perception of fish oil is however troubled by the high level of PUFA oxidation and low absorption in the gastro-intestinal tract. In this work we present and described various types of delivery systems which are used to improve PUFA and fish oil availability and oxidative stability.

Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) on the basis of Siberian pine (Pinus sibirica) seed oil.

Nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) are new drug systems composed of physiological lipid materials. The possibility of including different types of lipids into the NLC structure revealed the wide prospects for using biologically active natural oils for the development of the cutaneous preparations. In this study the formulation parameters of NLC on the basis of Siberian pine seed oil were evaluated including concentration of lipids, types of surfactants and storage conditions (4 degrees C, 20 degrees C, 40 degrees C). Size distribution and storage stability of formulations produced by hot high pressure homogenisation were investigated by laser diffractometry and photon correlation spectroscopy. The NLC were characterised by their melting behaviour using differential scanning calorimetry. The obtained data indicated the high physical stability of the developed NLC formulations.