Acta Scientific Pharmaceutical Sciences (ISSN: 2581-5423)
Volume 6 Issue 1 January 2022
Liposomal Drug Delivery System - A Concise Review
Sakib M Moinuddin
1
*, Irfan Sajid
2
and Md. Hasanul Arif
3
1
Guilin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., R&D Center, Guangxi, China
2
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, North South University, Bangladesh
3
R&D Department, Orion Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Dhaka, Bangladesh
*Corresponding Author: Sakib M Moinuddin, E-mail: sa12kib@yahoo.com
Mini Review
Received: November 15, 2021
Published: December 16, 2021
© All rights are reserved by Sakib M
Moinuddin., et al.
Abstract
Liposomes are microscopic self-assembling unilamellar or multilamellar vesicles made up of phospholipid bilayer. Both the hy-
drophilic and hydrophobic drugs can be attached to the lipid bilayer of liposomes and can show their efficacy in the target cell
of the human body. After discovering the liposome by Bangham., et al. and his colleagues, this drug delivery system gained much
popularity in every aspect of the pharmaceutical dosage form. Recently, the liposomal drug delivery system has been commercially
manufactured and applied in a variety of ailments, including black fungal infection of post-COVID 19, cancer, analgesics, vaccines, and
photodynamic therapy, etc. This review tersely described the liposomal formation, classification, characterization, and the overview
of marketed drugs.
Keywords: Liposome; Phospholipids; Black Fungus; COVID 19
Introduction
Recently, more than 40% of marketed drugs and drug discov-
ery pipelines 70 to 90% are suffering poor aqueous solubility and
permeability problems [1,2]. The computerized combinatorial
chemistry has led to discovering new drug entities by potential
therapeutic action on the target cell. These poor solubilities and
permeability can lead to low bioavailability [3,4]. The anticancer
or chemotherapeutic agents are highly cytotoxic to the malignant
cell, equally damaging the normal cells. For this reason, drug sub-
stances need a specific formulation that can specifically bind with
the target disease site without damaging the normal cell. At pres-
ent, formulation scientists have attempted several techniques, in-
cluding nanoparticles, microparticles, and liposomes, for the tar-
geted drug delivery to the specific disease site.
The liposome is a spherical-shaped vesicle that consists of one
or more phospholipid bilayers. Notably, the liposome is a carrier
for drugs or targeted molecules. Interestingly, liposome formula-
tion can be encapsulated by both hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs,
i.e., biological classification system (BCS) class i, ii, iii, and iv drugs,
and applied to the disease site of the body. This system is made of
colloidal size with a range of 0.01 to 5.0 µm in diameter [5].
In this review, we provide a concise picture of the liposome-
based products on the market. In addition, we mentioned liposo-
mal formation, classification, and characterization.
Formation of liposome
A liposome is a potential carrier of the hydrophilic and lipophil-
ic drug substance. Figure 1 represents the liposome of spherical-
shaped phospholipid bilayers. The hydrophobic drug substance
is loaded on the hydrophobic part, and the hydrophilic drug sub-
stance is loaded on the hydrophilic portion of the liposome (Figure
1).
Commercial liposomal drug delivery
Currently, several pharmaceutical agents, including vaccine,
antiviral, anticancer drugs, proteins, and macromolecules, are en-
Citation: Sakib M Moinuddin., et al. “Liposomal Drug Delivery System - A Concise Review". Acta Scientific Pharmaceutical Sciences 6.1 (2022): 85-89.