Dermal Liposome Development Service

Liposome is an ideal drug delivery carrier for the controlled release of therapeutic agents. Over the decades, it has been well developed to improve dermal and transdermal drug delivery ability. The use of liposomes in nanocosmetology showed many benefits, such as improved penetration and diffusion of active ingredients, extended release time, better stability, and reduced side effects. Both hydrophilic and lipophilic cosmetic actives could be loaded into the liposomes for a better effect.

Background of Dermal Liposomes

Epidermis, the barrier of the skin, is mainly composed of keratinocytes and is organized into four primary strata: stratum corneum, granular layer, spinous layer, and basal layer. The barrier function of the epidermis resides primarily in the upper layer, the stratum corneum (SC), which has a “brick wall” structure to protect the body. Penetration of drug molecules through the skin barrier may occur through transappendageal and transepidermal routes. The former includes transport through the skin appendages such as sweat glands and sebaceous glands, and the transepidermal route is composed of the intercellular or transcellular route. Conventional delivery methods allow successful penetration of small molecular weight drugs or possess an octanol/water partition coefficient that favors lipids, which have limited the transdermal route to administer highly hydrophilic drugs, peptides, and macromolecules.

With the development of nanotechnology, nanocarriers are attracting increasing attention as a method of improving percutaneous drug delivery. Liposomes are the most commonly used nanocarriers in skin delivery. They are spherical vesicle structures bordered by phospholipid bilayers with one or more aqueous compartments and sizes from nanometers to micrometers. Molecules with different physicochemical properties could be loaded into the aqueous compartment of the lipid bilayers of liposomes respectively due to the structure, thus providing the benefits of cargo protection, modified pharmacokinetics, distribution, etc. Additionally, conventional liposomes are formula improved to generate new classes of lipid carriers with flexible and ultradeformable properties to enhance skin penetration, for example, deformable vesicles, niosomes, and ethosomes.

Fig1. Different routes for dermal delivery

Dermal Liposome Development

Liposomes are well-established nano lipid vesicles that act as potential carriers for drug delivery. They can provide several advantages such as biodegradable, non-toxic, and improving the solubility of different drugs. Additionally, liposomes can better penetrate the epidermal barrier compared to the conventional dosage form due to the epidermis-like lipid composition. And a variety of liposomes have been developed and put into use according to delivery requirements.

Conventional liposomes are the most commonly used drug carriers for different delivery methods. They are highly compatible with various therapeutic drugs and are now being used in cosmetic products that deliver vitamins, α-hydroxy acids, ceramides, growth factors, botanical extracts, and antioxidants.

Niosomes are more stable vesicles composed of single-chain surfactant molecules in combination with cholesterol. They are considered to be able to modify the structure of the stratum corneum and make it looser and more permeable.

Deformable vesicles are novel liquid-state vesicles that consist of phospholipids and edge activators (e.g., sodium cholate, Span 60, and Tween 20). The activator can destabilize the lipid bilayers of the vesicles and increase their deformability by lowering the interfacial tension, which could help to squeeze themselves through the stratum corneum and achieve better penetration.

Ethosomes are another novel lipid carrier for enhanced dermal drug delivery. They are mainly composed of phospholipids, high concentration ethanol, and water. The addition of ethanol makes the vesicles soft and flexible, which allows them to penetrate the deeper layer of the skin.

Fig2. Different lipid carriers for dermal delivery

What Can We Do about Liposomes for Dermal Delivery?

With the development of liposome research, they are now more than therapeutic drug carriers and are being used in cosmetic products and nutritious supplementary. As one of the world-leading liposome development service providers, Creative Biolabs has strong and extensive expertise to provide the fully custom-made, one-stop solutions for your project:

• Objective to evaluate, design, and optimize the dermal liposomes
• Customized liposome formulations
• Optimization of preparation process and manufacturing

For more details about our services, please contact us directly.

For Research Use Only. Not For Clinical Use