Long-living liposomes as potential drug carriers

Neutral, unilamellar liposomes (vesicles) composed of a dialkyl analog of phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol, and containing ¹⁴C-maltose as entrapped marker, were administered intravenously to mice. After one and two days, radioactivity in blood and liver remained 3–4 times higher than after administration of liposomes of egg (diester) phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol. It appears that the vesicles were taken into liver cells by endocytosis, and that phospholipases are involved in the capture as well as in the breakdown of conventional liposomes. Liposomes that are semi-resistant to catabolic enzymes may become useful in the manipulation of drug delivery.