Friday, August 9, 2013

Liposome Formulation And Its Benefits

Liposome Formulation And Its Benefits

By Andrea Davidson


A liposome is an artificial vesicle that is composed of a lipid bilayer. It can be used as a vehicle for administrating nutrients and some other pharmaceutical drugs. Liposome formulation can be done by disrupting some biological membranes. Its design may also employ some surface ligands for attaching to some unhealthy tissues.

It often encapsulates a certain region of aqueous solution inside a hydrophobic membrane. Some dissolved hydrophilic solutes cannot even pass through the lipids. The hydrophobic chemicals may be dissolved into a membrane and in the same way, a liposome can carry both the hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules.

To aid in the delivery of some molecules in various parts, the lipid bilayer would often combine with other bilayers like the cell membrane. By the addition of liposomes in a solution of DNA and drugs, it could easily pass through a certain lipid bilayer. It does not always have any lipophobic content such as water. These may also be formed as a model for some artificial cells.

It can also be used to administer drugs in numerous ways. It contains a lower level of pH that may be further built in ways that other aqueous drugs might be charged in the solution. Due to the neutralization that is brought by the pH level, and likewise the drug, it could freely go through the membrane.

Formulation of such is not a spontaneous process. The lipid vesicles are formed when the phospholipids such as lecithin are placed in water and will consequently form another bilayer which are separated by water molecules. Sonication is another method in preparing it, which is considered as gross. It can cause damage to the structure of the drug to be encapsulated. However, there are newer methods that are studied to produce materials for human use.

There are more advances in various research that would make it unnoticeable in the immune system. These are made with a Polyethylene Glycol that is studding outside its membrane. It has an inert coating in its body and will allow a longer circulatory life for delivering drug mechanisms. Moreover, there are more researches that are conducted to further investigate the amount of coating that could hinder the binding that occurs in the delivery site.

These are also excellent carriers of some active pharmaceutical ingredients and some cosmetic agents. These are also approved by FDA for delivering a wide scale of small molecule drugs. The development of such is being sought by some industries and institutions. The use of some organic solvents can also affect the chemical integrity of the actively present ingredient, which is intended to be encapsulated and would require purification and separation steps as well.

These elements remain stable in liquid form at a temperature of four degrees Celsius for as long as six months. It has a lower acute toxicity as well, which is significant in mice than the current alcohol formulation dose. Results of some studies even say that it is a promising anticancer treatment.

The usual liposome formulation will include several methods like detergent depletion, emulsion methods and ethanol injection. Some processing methods would include ultrasound, extrusion and a high pressure homogenization. There are more techniques like using of dense gas in producing such that is not introduced due to its higher operating pressures that are needed in the whole process.




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