Proliposomes for Pulmonary Drug Delivery: A Conclusive Summary
摘要
This chapter serves as a conclusive summary of the former four chapters regarding the field of proliposomes for pulmonary drug delivery. The growing prevalence of pulmonary diseases justifies the need for effective drug delivery directly to the lung for local treatment of pulmonary diseases, aiming to maximize therapeutic benefit and minimize systemic adverse effects. Liposomes have emerged as safe nanocarriers for inhalation, but their instability issues tend to slow down development of many new inhaled liposome formulations. Proliposomes are liposome precursor formulations, and they have emerged as alternatives to traditional liposome formulations, with potential for advancing the field of pulmonary inhalation of liposomes. Delivery of proliposomes and liposomes generated from proliposomes can be achieved using pMDIs, and more commonly DPIs and medical nebulizers. Characterization of proliposomes and liposomes is essential for formulation development, and subsequent investigations of proliposomal/liposomal aerosol revealed their suitability for “deep lung” deposition. Numerous studies conducted in our group and others have shown the advantage of using proliposome formulations as an approach for generating inhalable liposomes or proliposomes that may generate in situ within the lung. In vivo studies using experimental animals have revealed many possible therapeutic applications of liposomes generated from proliposomes including treatment of infectious diseases and cancer.