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Liposomes in drugs, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics

drugs-and-devices
science-and-medical-education

Abstract

Background

Liposomes are spherical vesicular structures formed by lipidic bilayers with a hydrophilic internal nucleus. The size varies from about 20 nanometers to several micrometers. They were initially described in the sixties by the biophysicist Alec Bangham. Since then, multiple studies have been conducted to characterize them according to the number of layers, size, load, and functionality. Moreover, there are several conventional and new methods for liposome preparation. The main objective of this work is to describe the characteristics of liposomes and their possible applications in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics.

Methodology

All the information was generated because of a bibliographic review of a consulting database such as Science Direct, Pubmed, Elsevier, Wiley Online Library, Journal of Innovations in Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences, MDPI, National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Nature, from 2010 to 2025. The keywords used were liposomes, cosmetics, cosmeceuticals, nanotechnology, Transferosomes®, ethosomes, modified vesicles, nutraceuticals, and natural products. The search was conducted in both languages, English and Spanish.

Results and Conclusion

These vesicles have a particular scientific interest for use in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics, as they are promising vehicles or carriers for substances and compounds that are unstable under specific conditions and can be easily degraded or have undesirable taste and smell. However, despite their advantages, challenges are still faced, such as low solubility, limited half-life, oxidation, and hydrolysis of the phospholipids that form their membranes, and elevated production costs.

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