Preparation and properties of liposomes composed of various phospholipids with different hydrophobic chains using a supercritical reverse phase evaporation method.

Liposomes were prepared by the supercritical reverse phase evaporation method developed in our laboratory using various phospholipids with different hydrocarbon chains. The effects of the length of alkyl chain and number of unsaturated bonds of phospholipids on the properties of liposomal membranes were examined through trapping efficiency measurements, transmission electron microscopic observations, and osmotic response measurements. The trapping efficiency for water-soluble drugs of liposomes prepared by our method was greatly higher than that of liposomes prepared by the conventional Bangham method. Liposomes prepared using unsaturated phospholipids showed a high trapping efficiency compared with those prepared using saturated phospholipids. In addition, the trapping efficiency of liposomes prepared using 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl phosphatidylcholine (POPC), a complex phospholipid with both saturated and unsaturated alkyl groups, had a value intermediate between L-alpha-dipalmitoyl-phosphtidylcholine (DPPC), a saturated phospholipid, and L-alpha-dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC), an unsaturated phospholipid. That is, the trapping efficiency of liposomes was dependent on the number of unsaturated bonds rather than the alkyl chain length of phospholipid molecule and it increased with increasing bulkiness of the molecule. The osmotic response was higher for liposomes prepared using unsaturated phospholipids than for those formed by saturated phospholipids.