Lipid-based Liquid Crystalline Phases for Biocompatible and Versatile Drug Delivery

The purpose of the paper was to overview the liquid crystalline phases that can be prepared with various lipids and to assess their characteristics as drug delivery systems for drugs to be administered to various routes. Glyceryl monooleate (GMO) was most frequently employed to deliver the drugs to topical, transdermal, oral, buccal and parenteral routes. In addition to bulk phase such as lamellar and cubic liquid crystalline phases, nano-sized cubosomes of GMO have offered a wide range of chances to administer drugs more precisely to oral and parenteral routes. In addition to GMO different types of lipids including phospholipids, triglycerides, fatty acids and cholesterol were able to form liquid crystalline phases even though most studies employing other lipids than GMO were focused on revealing their phase behaviors and physicochemical characteristics. However, it was expected that more research attempts will be made on utilizing new class of liquid crystalline phases that can be formed with various lipids. Based on the outcome published to date, more versatile drug delivery can be possible if new lipid materials can be developed and used to organize unique molecular orders suitable for a difficult-to-carry drugs.