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Review
. 2023 May 5;13(9):1557.
doi: 10.3390/nano13091557.

Current Applications of Liposomes for the Delivery of Vitamins: A Systematic Review

Matheus A Chaves  1   2 , Letícia S Ferreira  1 , Lucia Baldino  3 , Samantha C Pinho  1 , Ernesto Reverchon  3
Affiliations
Review

Current Applications of Liposomes for the Delivery of Vitamins: A Systematic Review

Matheus A Chaves et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

Liposomes have been used for several decades for the encapsulation of drugs and bioactives in cosmetics and cosmeceuticals. On the other hand, the use of these phospholipid vesicles in food applications is more recent and is increasing significantly in the last ten years. Although in different stages of technological maturity-in the case of cosmetics, many products are on the market-processes to obtain liposomes suitable for the encapsulation and delivery of bioactives are highly expensive, especially those aiming at scaling up. Among the bioactives proposed for cosmetics and food applications, vitamins are the most frequently used. Despite the differences between the administration routes (oral for food and mainly dermal for cosmetics), some challenges are very similar (e.g., stability, bioactive load, average size, increase in drug bioaccessibility and bioavailability). In the present work, a systematic review of the technological advancements in the nanoencapsulation of vitamins using liposomes and related processes was performed; challenges and future perspectives were also discussed in order to underline the advantages of these drug-loaded biocompatible nanocarriers for cosmetics and food applications.

Keywords: cosmetics; food application; liposomes; nanodispersions; nanoencapsulation; phospholipid vesicles; vitamins.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of the main differences between fat-soluble and water-soluble vitamins. Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) are stored in the body’s fatty tissues and liver, whereas water-soluble vitamins (B-complex and C) are not. The differences in solubility, absorption, storage, and excretion can affect the way these vitamins act in the body.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Overview of the conventional and novel methods for liposome production covered in this review. Advantages of each group (conventional vs. recent/innovative) are summarized within the braces.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Evolution of the publications about the encapsulation of vitamins in liposomes over the last 20 years.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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