Superparamagnetic lipid-based hybrid nanosystems for drug delivery

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The development of multifunctional drug carriers provides many opportunities in the field of drug delivery. Among them, carriers loaded with both drug and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles would allow the combination of chemotherapy with the possibility of monitoring or controlling the distribution of the nanocarrier in the body, triggering drug release and/or applying a synergistic hyperthermia treatment.

Areas covered: The present review covers biocompatible lipid-based nanotechnologies that have been employed to co-encapsulate drug and iron oxide. Depending on their physico-chemical properties, lipids are able to generate monophasic lipophilic nanodispersions or more complex structures containing both lipidic and aqueous domains. This review describes the rationale behind these nanoobjects and how they can be prepared.

Expert opinion: This review focuses on the co-encapsulation aspects of these hybrid systems and discusses in particular the possible heterogeneities in drug-to-iron oxide ratio and the difficulties that could be encountered in the construction of these biocompatible multifunctional drug carriers.

KEYWORDS:

• Cubosomes
• iron oxide
• ISAsomes
• liposome
• nanoemulsions
• NLC
• SLN
• SPION

Article highlights

• Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) can be used for magnetic resonance imaging, physical targeting, hyperthermia and/or temperature-triggered drug release.

• Depending on their physico-chemical properties, lipid-based components are able to generate monophasic or compartmented nanoscale assemblies that allow double incoporation of superparamagnetic nanomaterials and drugs.

• This review highlights the potential applications of magnetic-fluid-loaded lipid nanocarriers as multifunctional systems.

• The discussion has been focused on the limits of co-encapsulation and the strategies to guarantee the drug-to-SPION ratio.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge Gillian Barratt for her rereading and language revision of the manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties. Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded