Preparation of Lipid Vesicles Using Double Emulsions

Abstract

Lipid vesicle is a molecular aggregate consisting of closed lipid bilayers formed in aqueous solution and it can be applied in various industries as carriers for drug delivery systems and encapsulation materials of other functional compounds. The authors recently developed a novel vesicle preparation method using water-in-oil-in-water type double emulsions. This method consisting of 3 steps: (1) primary emulsification for obtaining water-in-oil emulsion, (2) secondary emulsification for obtaining double emulsion, (3) removal of organic solvent from double emulsion for forming lipid vesicles. By this method, high encapsulation efficiency for hydrophilic compounds and size control of lipid vesicles could be achieved. The resulting vesicles showed good stability against autoclave treatment and powderization treatment by freeze-drying.