liposomal
Meaning of liposomal: Liposomal describes a drug formulation enclosed within fat based particles, changing how the medication is absorbed, distributed, and tolerated.
Definition of liposomal
Liposomal describes a medication packaged inside liposomes, microscopic particles built from lipids that resemble the natural membranes surrounding the body's own cells. Enclosing a drug this way can shield it from rapid breakdown in the bloodstream and change the pattern of tissues it reaches.
A liposomal formulation often behaves differently in the body than the same drug given in its plain form, sometimes allowing a higher effective dose to reach an intended target, such as a tumor or a site of infection, while reducing the amount reaching sensitive normal tissue. Liposomal formulations exist for certain chemotherapy drugs and for some antifungal medications used to treat serious systemic infections.
Because the surrounding liposome changes how a drug is handled by the body, a liposomal version of a medication is generally treated as a distinct formulation, with its own dosing and side effect profile, rather than a simple substitute for the standard form.
Used in a sentence
A liposomal antifungal medication was selected to treat the patient's systemic fungal infection.
Good to know
A liposomal drug formulation is not automatically interchangeable with the same drug in its standard form, since the two can differ in dosing, side effects, and how the body distributes them.
Word origin
Where “liposomal” comes from
Liposomal shares its root with liposome, formed from Greek lipos, meaning fat, and soma, meaning body.