“LIPOSOME” HAS BECOME QUITE A BUZZWORD in recent
years, largely driven by new advances in the pharmacology
and dietary supplement industry. One can find plenty of
dietary supplements ranging from vitamin C to curcumin to
even colostrum using liposomal delivery systems, and now
liposomal CBD products have made their way into the buying
tastes and preferences of the consumer.
Liposomal technology, broadly speaking, refers to the use
of liposomes to both target drug therapy (in our case CBD)
to receptor-specific tissue (in our case the endocannabinoid
system) and to enhance bioavailability.
What are liposomes?
The word liposome derives from Greek roots where “lipo“
refers to “fat” and “some” refers to “body.” But a liposome is
much more than a “fat body.”
Liposomes are man-made transport vesicles designed to

deliver biologically useful substances like CBD to tissue with
greater efficacy. A liposome is essentially a phospholipid
membrane filled with a watery mix, and shares many of the
features of a living cell. Structurally a liposome is roughly the
size and shape of a cell and is bound by a membrane that is
compatible with a living cell membrane because, critically, they
share the same phospholipid building blocks.
Further, a liposome can function like a cell, having the ability
to interact chemically with a cell. Where a living cell membrane
has two concentric layers of phospholipid building blocks
called a phospholipid bilayer, a liposome will generally have
one. Liposomes can travel through the watery mix of tissue
matrix intact until arriving at the site of administration.
Greater bio-efficiency
The cell membrane is integral to all biological processes
because it facilitates cell-to-cell communication, chemical

interaction, and flow of materials into
and out of the cell. This is because
membranes have affinity with both
water (hydrophilic) and oil (hydrophobic)
— two substances that normally “don’t
mix”— at the same time.
When a liposome interacts with a cell,
the contents of the liposome are able
to move according to the concentration
gradient into the target cell. The
liposomal membrane, meanwhile, is
integrated into the target cell membrane.
This means that liposomes can interact
in ways that target certain cells and
tissue types with greater bio-efficiency

Delivery vehicles for CBD
Liposomes improve transdermal
systems by acting as delivery vehicles
for CBD. They are nonimmunogenic and
non-toxic, thermodynamically stable
(prolonged shelf life), and non-irritating
to the skin. Because of their ease of
preparation, thermodynamic stability,
bio-compatibility, enhanced topical
performance and safety after prolonged
application, liposomal topicals are the
vehicle of choice for topical delivery
systems.
Importantly, a great advantage of
the dual (hydrophobic/hydrophilic)
nature of liposomes is their ability to
drive higher concentrations of CBD and
improve delivery efficiency. Because of
their hydrophobic nature, liposomes are
able to effectively penetrate the stratum
corneum, a particularly watertight
barrier of the skin. And because of their
hydrophilic nature, liposomes absorb
readily into the more aqueous layers
of deeper tissue. The improvement in
skin permeation, ability to drive higher

concentrations and the ability to target
tissue make liposomal transdermal
delivery systems superior compared with
conventional topicals.

Advantages of liposomal
transdermal delivery
Liposomal delivery has the advantage of
the ability to deliver substances over a
wide range of physiochemical properties
such as molecular weight, size, solubility, electrical charge (proteins), etc.,
making it an ideal choice for cannabinoid
delivery.
Liposomal systems form
spontaneously (self-assemble) and
without the application of heat, making
them very stable, moisture insensitive
and easy to handle, with a long shelf
life. Liposomes are very safe for longterm use, being nonimmunogenic,
biocompatible and biodegradable. And
liposomes offer total dermal absorption,
penetrating the watertight barrier of the
skin for superior transdermal delivery.
CBD products, treatments and
therapies have gained (near) universal
acceptance, having proven themselves
— by now, post medicinal marijuana
— as effective for just about any
health condition with an inflammatory
component, which is just about any
health condition you can think of.
Coupled with this new technology of
delivery, liposomal transdermal CBD
products will offer therapeutic value for
years to come.
JOE DACREMA is the owner of
DaCremaBotanicals.com, which has
produced small-batch, quality CBD products
since 2014.