Stealth liposomes in human welfare: an overview

Abstract

Liposomes are artificially prepared vesicles made of a lipid bilayer that can encapsulate drugs and used as a drug carrier system for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Conventional liposomes have a short half-life because of rapid uptake by reticuloendothelial system which in turn tends to decrease the liposome concentration and effectiveness of drug. Coating liposome with polyethylene glycol reduces the rate of uptake by macrophages (stealth effect) and leads to a prolonged presence of liposome in the circulation and consequently provides improved effectiveness of the drug. These polyethylene glycol coated liposomes are also referred to as sterically stabilized or stealth liposomes. This review focuses on stealth technology and summarizes the characteristics, methods of preparation, applications, advantages and limitations of stealth liposomes.