Liposomes as oral adjuvants

In this brief review, emphasis was placed on the effectiveness of liposomes as carriers/vehicles of soluble antigens and as adjuvants for mucosal responses when used as oral vaccines. Evidence was provided that oral administration of antigen in liposomes resulted in an augmented mucosal response, compared to the response obtained when the oral vaccine consisted of antigen alone. Specific mucosal responses were further enhanced by the use of lipophilic MDP in the antigen/liposome vaccines. In order to better understand the properties of liposomes important for their functional activities, a rapid and reproducible method employing flow cytometry was described which can be conveniently used for the characterization of liposome preparations. Finally, evidence was presented which further supports the potential of recombinant DNA techniques in developing effective and safe oral vaccines against a variety of infectious diseases.