Lipid Nanocarriers for the Treatment of Gastrointestinal Inflammations

Abstract

Gastrointestinal inflammations refer to an assemblage of disorders that affect the digestive system resulting in symptoms like abdominal pain, diarrhea, bleeding, and ulcers. Such kinds of disorders contain conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, celiac disease, and inflammatory bowel disease. Conventional therapies for gastrointestinal inflammations very often remain unsatisfactory and typically face complications such as side effects of low bioavailability, low specificity, and systemic toxicity. Nanotechnology therefore holds promise to provide an alternative means for the administration of drugs into the gastrointestinal tract, averting the limitations involved with the conventional drug delivery systems by conferring means of target selectivity and ensuing control in the therapy prescribed. Lipid nanocarriers are the most interesting among different types of nanocarriers due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and versatility. The factors involved in the production of lipid nanocarriers, their characterization, some advantages, and challenges they bring when used for the treatment of gastrointestinal inflammations were presented. It also presents the current applications of lipid nanocarriers in selected gastrointestinal diseases. In summary, it details how lipid nanocarriers could benefit in outcomes among patients having gastrointestinal inflammations in detail while explaining the current challenges remaining, as well as future developments in this research and development area.