Medical Breakthroughs From Liposomal Formulation

By Kristen Baird


Among the major areas of care fixated by people is their health. As such, advances in medicines are duly welcome and highly appreciated. Progress in research of various diseases and development of drugs to help curb them is always a good indicator. One such aspect of progress has been noted in liposomal formulation.

The process of this formulation was discovered 50 years ago. It came about as a solution to a problem of drugs taken orally being exhausted and digested before reaching the intended target areas. The liposomal way was deemed best suited since it was a favorable carrier to both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs.

Liposomes bio structure is favorable. They are mainly aqueous at the core. This is close in by a layer of phospholipids. Various strains have different types of phospholipids they could be either natural or synthetically prepared in a laboratory. This provides an ideal state where both extremes of drugs can be safely transported, by either attaching to the liquid core or the lipid outer layers.

The core structure of liposomes is what causes them to be preferred among researchers of various fields and disciplines. They are formed when phospolipids are immersed in water and a specific amount of heat directed toward them. To determine if it is an appropriate carrier for a given drug, the chemical composition should be bench-marked against that of the drug, so as to avert reactions.

Advances like these have led to researchers getting further progress in the field. The most famous result being an anthracycline drug known as Doxorubicin, developed specifically to curb the spread of various variations of cancer. It inserts strains of base RNA and DNA into the malignant cells, and also the topoisomerase enzyme in later stages. This actively inhibits the spread of the disease.

Research and development has been kicked into top gear with the discovery and advancement of this formulation. There are high expectations from various areas on the development of drugs to help the fight against most terminal illnesses. There has been consistent research in developing anti-cancer drugs in the recent past. Drugs such as doxorubicin, paclitaxel, cisplatin, lipoplatin and aroplatin have been developed and testing is ongoing for the same purpose.

Some diseases which were considered deadly can now be mitigated via vaccines. Research in the field of liposomes has led to development of several vaccines which can now be actively used as preventative medicine. Most however are still undergoing rigorous testing. Some of the vaccines created include Inflexal V against influenza, Epaxal for Hepatitis, and Stimuvax for cancer.

The formulation is being investigated on how well it will serve in transportation of dietary supplements to various parts of the body. This testing is inspired by the exceptional success in performance of liposomes in targeted drug delivery. If successful, scientists will use liposomes to transport supplements to various parts of the body where they are required by the body. This procedure has been tried and worked. Therefore, its no longer a risk.




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