Evaluation of the impact of IL on SLNs with Gelucire® or Precirol ATO®

Abstract

Nanosystems are gradually being more commonly used in a variety of applications, providing a new approach to therapeutics by improving the pharmacokinetic profile of several compounds. This has led to an increase in the search for bioinspired and sustainable materials for novel nanotechnology-based formulations with pharmaceutical and cosmetic purposes. For the delivery of bioactives to the skin, lipid nanoparticles, such as solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), have been thoroughly investigated. Their use is still being hampered, nevertheless, by issues with stability and drug loading during storage. Several methodologies, including the applicability of ionic liquids (ILs), may be used to improve this. These have proven to be a potential strategy due to the beneficial qualities that our group identified in earlier work, namely their capacity to enhance the colloidal stability of formulations. Using two different commercial lipids (GelucireR 43/01 vs. Precirol ATOR 5) and an amino acid-based IL (2-hydroxyethyl)-trimethylammonium-L-phenylalaninate [Cho][Phe], this study aimed to assess the impact of the incorporation of the IL into the SLN, comparing both commercial lipids. After conducting stability tests and characterising these nanosystems in terms of size, zeta potential, and polydispersity index, SLNs with favourable properties were produced. The findings demonstrated that ILs helped to stabilise the nanoparticles and enhance their physicochemical characteristics for topical use. All things considered, choline-based ILs in combination with the creation of novel lipid nanocarriers from sustainable and bioinspired materials appear to create a new paradigm for skin delivery. These findings demonstrate that ILs can alter SLN size, which might enhance their physicochemical characteristics for topical use.