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Updated: May 19, 2026

Facile Preparation of Internally Self-assembled Lipid Particles Stabilized by Carbon Nanotubes
Published on: February 19, 2016
The potential of pectin as a stabilizer for liposomal drug delivery systems
Gro Smistad1, Silje Bøyum, Siv Jorunn Alund
1University of Oslo, School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy, Oslo, Norway. gro.smistad@farmasi.uio.no
Abstract:
The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential of different types of pectin as stabilizers for liposomal drug delivery systems. Positively charged liposomes were coated with commercially available and purified low-methoxylated (LM), high-methoxylated (HM) and amidated (AM) pectins. The samples were stored for up to 12 weeks at 4°C, at room temperature and at 35°C. The change in liposomal size and size distribution, zeta potential, pH, leakage of encapsulated carboxyfluorescein (CF), and lipid degradation were studied. All the types of pectin were found to protect the liposomes against aggregation during storage. The pectin coat did not affect the permeability of the liposome membrane. HM and LM pectin seemed to be the most promising types of pectin due to minimal changes in the zeta potentials during storage for these samples and no detectable lipid degradation. It is concluded that pectin may be used for stabilizing liposomal drug delivery systems.
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