A Potential New Liposomal Therapy for Atherosclerosis, A Disease Affecting Half of Older Americans

Half of Americans ages 45-80 have Atherosclerosis, a buildup of plague within the arteries. There are medications for the disease, however, they have been known to cause excessive bleeding, toxicity, and have short circulation time. There maintains a need to develop a nontoxic, biocompatible solution to Atherosclerosis with significant circulation time. Researchers discuss in, "Liposome interaction with macrophages and foam cells for atherosclerosis treatment: effects of size, surface charge and lipid composition" a potential liposomal formulation to solve these problems. They tested formulations using DPPC, DSPC, EPC and ESM lipids. Each of the lipid formulations were able to decrease cholesterol, however DPPC and DSPC were most effective. Anionic liposomes were shown to increase Cholesterol efflux more than cationic or neutral liposomes. The highest Cholesterol efflux was observed at 500 µM of lipid. These are all great points to consider when developing a new therapy for Atherosclerosis.