5-FLUOROURACIL - VARIOUS KINDS OF LOADED LIPOSOMES - ENCAPSULATION EFFICIENCY, STORAGE STABILITY AND FUSOGENIC PROPERTIES

This paper describes the optimization of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) loaded liposome formulations. Four different preparation procedures were carried out, obtaining two types of multilamellar vesicles (MLVs), stable plurilamellar vesicles (SPLVs) and large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs). In this study various phospholipids were used to prepare liposomes. The lipid mixtures containing dipalmitoylphosphatidylserine seemed the best for biological 5-FU delivery by presenting better encapsulation efficiency parameters, serum and storage stability, and fusogenic properties, which are an important prerequisite for in vivo liposome-cell interaction. The presence of cholesterol in the liposome composition was an important factor thereby ensuring serum and storage stability of the various vesicular systems. The most suitable liposome preparation was the SPLVs, that showed both good drug loading and stability parameters, compared to LUVs which had the highest loading capacity but low serum and storage stability.