Why co-surfactant are used with fatty acids based SLN and emulsions prepared by microemulsion method, and not frequently for triglycerides based lipid nanoparticles.
I have read that fatty acids don't undergo change in crystal structure after storage. Triglyceride do this due to reallignement of chains to attain stable structure that were heterogeneously arranged during cooling. Thus, why co-srufactants are more frequently used for fatty acids based lipid nanoparticles than that of triglycerides.
It may be added to increasing solubility of lipids as well as to improve grinding effect for nanonization.
To enhance emulsification area (solubility of lipid in water) so particle size also reduces as well as also provide better stability.
Admixture of different types of surfactants with bulk triacylglycerols can have pronounced effects on the kinetics of polymorphic transitions of the lipid material after its crystallization. The influence of the surfactant composition on the polymorphism of triacylglycerols has also been observed for colloidal triacylglycerol dispersions. In dispersions, the type of surfactant may influence the crystallization temperature of the dispersed phase as observed for dispersions of emulsified lipid systems. Crystallization temperature and polymorphic transitions are important parameters for the preparation of triacylglycerol nanoparticles.
During preparation, the emulsified dispersion must be cooled below the critical crystallization temperature of the triacylglycerols (i.e. much below their melting temperature) to crystallize the nanoparticles.
Dear all, I am more interested about fatty acid based SLN. Please guide me in this regard.
Before chilling/freezing processes, it is also essential to preserve the formation of the drug carrier molecule during the entire manufacturing process. Surfactants in oil-in-water emulsions for instance is needed to help form round and homogenously distributed particle carriers. Hence, perhaps with surfactants, fatty acid based lipid nanoparticles will form with favourable characteristics. One way to know for sure if it works similarly for your product, is to prepare a few batches with the surfactant at various concentrations and characterise the formula using TEM, size analyser and etc. Then draw curves and see if there is a pattern of improvement in the properties. With this, at least it will be known if addition of the surfactant really helped even before cryoprotecting agents are used. Good Luck!
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. As it is winter now, I have started to observe crystallization in fatty acids based SLN when stored at normal temperature (as temperature may go to minus degree celsius at night). This might be the reason especially when SLN are cooled very rapidly, or to very low temperature during addition of cold water (fatty acids don't get enough time to acquire crystalline configuration).
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