Application of Supercritical Fluid Technology for Preparation of Drug Loaded Solid Lipid Nanoparticles

Rapid expansion of supercritical fluid process

Small changes in pressure or temperature, close to the critical point, lead to large changes in solubility of supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2). Environmentally friendly supercritical CO2 is the most popular and inexpensive solvent which has been used for preparation of nanodrugs and nanocarriers in drug delivery system with supercritical fluid technology.

Delivery of a drug is one of the most challenging research areas in pharmaceutical sciences. With a combination of drugs and innovative delivery systems such as lipid nanocarriers, drugs efficiency and safety have been improved significantly. There are various techniques available to produce drug loaded solid lipid nanoparticles. Among them, supercritical fluid technology has been identified as potentially effective and applicable approach which has attracted increasing attention during recent years. This technique has several advantages such as avoid the use of solvents, particles are obtained as a dry powder, instead of suspensions, mild pressure and temperature conditions can be applied.

Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to formation of drug loaded solid lipid nanoparticles by supercritical fluid technology. In this paper, we present a brief introduction to solid lipid nanocarriers. Then a general overview of different processes of supercritical fluid technology has been provided and also case studies are presented to show the potential benefits of this approach in drug loaded solid lipid nanoparticle production.