title: Phytantriol based smart nano-carriers for drug delivery applications.
abstract: From the last couple of decades, lyotropic liquid crystals have garnered enormous attentions in medical and pharmaceutical sciences. Non-toxic, chemically stable, and biocompatible properties of these liquid crystal systems are contributing to their applications for drug delivery. Among a large variety of liquid crystal phases, inverse bicontinuous cubic and inverse hexagonal mesophases have been extensively investigated for their ability to encapsulate and controlled release of bioactive molecules of various sizes and polarity. The concept of changing the drug release rate in situ by simply changing the mesophase structure is much more fascinating. The encapsulation of bioactive compounds in mesophase systems of desirable features in sub-micron sized particles such as hexosomes and cubosomes, at ambient and high temperature is bringing innovation in the development of new drug applications. This review article outlines unique structural features of cubosomes and hexosomes, their methods of productions, factors affecting their formations and their potential utilization as smart nano-carriers for biopharmaceuticals in drug delivery applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Sciences and Humanities, University of Engineering and Technology, KSK Campus, GT Road, Lahore, Pakistan. Electronic address: s.akbar@uet.edu.pk.
authors.forename: Samina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akbar
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Sciences and Humanities, University of Engineering and Technology, KSK Campus, GT Road, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Aneela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anwar
authors.affiliation: Avicenna Medical College Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Abdullah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ayish
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 6AD.
authors.forename: Joanne M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 6AD.
authors.forename: Adam M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Squires
mesh_terms: D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods; D065546:Drug Liberation; D005233:Fatty Alcohols / Q000737:chemistry*; D050866:Liquid Crystals / Q000737:chemistry; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers; D005233:Fatty Alcohols; C508873:3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-1,2,3-hexadecanetriol
keywords: Cubosomes; Drug delivery; Hexosomes; Liquid crystal phase; Phytantriol; Phytantriol (PubChem CID: 3018525)