Phenomenological and Formulation Aspects in Tailored Nanoliposome Production

Abstract

Liposomes as cell-mimetic system have attracted wide attention of researchers in various branches of the drug delivery topic as they can be highly functionalized and personalized, thus solving the major drawbacks of bioactive molecules linked to their low stability, limited membrane permeability, short half-life and low bioavailability. The development of sustainable processes able to produce ad hoc liposomes in a rapid manner through the use of not-laboured techniques, avoiding drastic conditions, is of great relevance for the industrial sector. In this chapter, two novel liposome production processes, the ultrasound-assisted thin-film hydration and the simil-microfluidic techniques sharing the same size reduction/homogenization preparative step, are presented. The phenomenological aspects involved in vectors constitution through the duty cycle sonication process (bilayer rupture/vesicles formation mechanisms) and through the simil-microfluidic approach (intubated flows interdiffusion mechanisms) are described. Finally, two applications as case histories involving the use of the developed techniques for relevant classes of active molecule delivery are described. In particular, a pharmaceutical application concerns the encapsulation of short-interfering RNA (siRNA) molecule, used for gene therapy, inside cationic nanoliposomes, and a nutraceutical application consists in the production of ferrous sulphate anionic liposomal formulations with improved features compared to those already present on the market.

Design and production of hybrid nanoparticles with polymeric-lipid shell–core structures: conventional and next-generation approaches

“…Uncoated nanoliposomes were produced using the simil-microuidic method by means of a semi-continuous setup developed previously, whose layout is described in ref. 34 and schematized in Fig. 1 by UNICHIM representation of piping.…”

“…As described in ref. 34, liposome formation through the simil-microuidic method is governed by the molecular diffusion between lipids (which are solubilized in the organic phase) and water (which simultaneously diffuses into organic solvent to reduce its concentration below the critical value required for lipid solubilisation). In this way, liposomes based directly on nanometre size are formed.…”

Advances in Nanoliposomes Production for Ferrous Sulfate Delivery

“…In particular, the reduction of the liposomes size is an effect of the diffusion rate of the lipids into the hydration solution-as the hydration solution volumetric flow rate increases, lipids, impacting on a larger volume and being distant from each other, aggregate to form smaller vesicles. On the contrary, as the lipid concentration increases, phospholipids, impacting at the same alcohol/water interface area, are closer to each other and thus form larger vesicles [36,37].…”

“…Finally, separated from the rest of the plant, there is a homogenization section constitutes by an ultrasound device whose features are given in details in Bochicchio Dalmoro, Recupido, Lamberti and Barba [36]. After the scale up of the ultrasound assisted homogenization process, the plant configuration was slightly modified as detailed in Bochicchio, Lamberti and Barba [37] by including the homogenization section in the plant layout as described in Section 2.6. [38] published by the Royal Society of Chemistry).…”

A New Productive Approach and Formulative Optimization for Curcumin Nanoliposomal Delivery Systems

“…In particular, liposomes of nanometric size are preferred. As discussed above, nano dimensions allow larger interfacial surface area that improves solubility, bioavailability, and release properties [ 18 ]. Nanoliposomes are able to maintain the transparency of clear beverages in the case of nutrients enrichment [ 19 ] and also enhance the intestinal absorption of the active principles [ 20 ].…”