Omega-3 fatty acid nanocarriers: Characterization and potential applications

Lyotropic non-lamellar liquid crystalline (LLC) nano-self-assemblies (including cubosomes and hexosomes) are attractive versatile platforms for the encapsulation and delivery of drugs and nutritional molecules. This is due to their unique structural features and architectural arrangements that afford loading of small molecules and macromolecules having different physicochemical properties with high efficiency. Considering the reported health-promoting effects of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (u-3 PUFAs) and their precursors u-3 PUFA monoacylglycerols; here, we focus on physicochemical and biological properties of a new family of non-lamellar LLC nanoparticles assembled either from binary mixtures of phosphatidylglycerol and three types of u-3 PUFAs, or from single u-3 PUFA monoacylglycerols. We discuss recent progress in understanding their complexity, pH sensitivity, and structural tunability, as well as highlight their potential applications in health and medicine.