Abstract:

Liposomes, one of the most attractive nanocarriers, are spherical microvesicles that have an internal aqueous core surrounded with a single or multiple concentric lipid bilayers. The lipid formulations are made of naturally occurring lipids or synthetic lipids and surfactants not existing in biological systems. Liposomes resemble cell membrane in terms of structure and composition that are considered as a significant candidate for the improvement of drug delivery systems. Furthermore, liposomes suggest various advantages such as biocompatibility, high loading capacity, increasing half-life, low toxicity, good solubilization and stability of incorporating drugs and preventing the degradation of the medicine in the physiological environment. Besides medicine, liposomes have also been used in many other fields such as food and cosmetics. Herein, the composition, structure, classification, physicochemical properties and preparation methods of liposomes are introduced, respectively. The characteristics of liposomes dosage forms and the transdermal absorption mechanism vitally related to the application of liposomes in the medicine and cosmetics are also briefly presented. Meanwhile, the common applications of liposomes in medicine, food and cosmetics are outlined, as well as the future directions of liposomes research and development are pointed out.

Key words: liposomes, property, production, application, cosmetic, preparation