LIPOSOMAL IRON: A NOVEL APPROACH FOR IMPROVED IRON SUPPLEMENTATION, MANUFACTURED BY WEST BENGAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LTD

Iron deficiency remains a prevalent global health concern, necessitating effective supplementation strategies. Traditional iron supplements often pose challenges such as gastrointestinal side effects and poor tolerability. Liposomal iron, utilizing advanced delivery technology, presents a promising solution to enhance iron uptake and mitigate adverse effects. This research article elucidates the distinctive features and advantages of liposomal iron over conventional preparations, highlighting its efficacy, tolerability, and suitability across diverse populations, including pregnant women, children, and the elderly. Furthermore, it emphasizes the superior characteristics of liposomal iron manufactured by West Bengal Chemical Industries Ltd (WBCIL), underscoring its potential as a preferred choice for iron supplementation.

Liposomal technology used for iron up-take is significantly different from normal intestinal up-take of iron. Liposomal iron absorption involves a sophisticated technology that uses liposome as a carrier, where iron without coming in contact to gastro intestinal mucosa gets directly absorbed in the intestine.1 In case of normal intestinal iron up-take, gastric acid is required to convert dietary iron into absorbable form, while the iron up-take is largely facilitated by a protein located on the surface of enterocytes, i.e., cell lining of the small intestine; iron is then released into the bloodstream and binds to the transport protein transferrin, which delivers it to various tissues as well as organs. Contrary to this, liposomal iron supplements that are consumed orally are resistant to the acidic environment of the stomach, shielding the encapsulated iron from degradation and oxidation. Liposome encapsulated iron reach the small intestine, precisely the duodenum. In the duodenum, liposome releases iron into the intestinal lumen.2 The specialty of having liposomal iron supplements includes that liposomal iron is absorbed more efficiently in comparison to traditional iron supplements as it strongly bypasses gastric digestion. The absorbed liposomal iron is then released to the bloodstream and utilized by the body, alike to iron obtained from a normal diet. Although, there are reports existing on the beneficial aspects of liposomal delivery mechanism as well as suitability of ferric pyrophosphate as iron source separately; still, our current product that delivers ferric pyrophosphate iron source through liposomal coating technology provides a 85novel insight in considering this supplement in minimizing the release of iron ions that contribute to significant side effects. 2. Beneficial aspects of liposomal iron compared to conventional iron preparations2.1. Better efficacy:In liposomal technology, the plasma concentration of liposomal iron reaches the maximum level after 2 hours of supplement consumption which guarantees greater efficacy of the element for all metabolic processes in comparison to traditional iron. Liposomal iron can be given in low quantity as it is 2.7 and 3.5 times more bioavailable than ferrous sulphate and plain ferric pyrophosphate, respectively.2 An experimental study was done to evaluate the efficiency of iron up-take. The group received Liposomal ferric pyrophosphate. Liposomal ferric pyrophosphate has the higher values of iron concentrations at any point of time as compared to other salts, such as Ferrous sulphate or Ferric pyrophosphate.32.2. Better tolerability:Since it is Liposomal Iron, it can be given with other nutrients; hence, no interaction is present compared to conventional iron. Liposomal iron is almost devoid of all the common side effects associated with conventional iron, such as gastric irritation, nausea, constipation, etc.4 While iron supplements potentially interfere with the up-take of other nutrients such as calcium, zinc, and magnesium, liposomal iron has little impact on the efficacy of these nutrients, making it a more versatile option.2 In a previous study it has been shown that 30 post-menopausal women with iron deficiency (haemoglobin level of < 11.5 g/dL) who were previously been treated with other iron supplements used to experience side effects. They were initiated with the treatment of liposomal iron supplement, i.e., microencapsulated iron pyrophosphate in liposomal form and after 8 weeks of supplementation it was observed that there was a significant improvement in haemoglobin level and the treatment was well tolerated by the women.4 2.3. No oxidative adverse effects:Iron can induce oxidative stress in the body that can be harmful. Liposomal delivery might help mitigate this risk by minimising the release of iron ions contributory to oxidative damage. The conventional iron is known to increase the oxidative damage by altering the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) as well as super-oxide dismutase (SOD). Studies have verified that liposomal iron is related to decreased levels of MDA and increased levels of SOD. This can help in decreasing the oxidative damage otherwise found with conventional iron supplements.52.4. No Interaction with Dietary Inhibitors:The uptake of traditional non-haem iron might be prevented by several factors, such as dietary inhibitors. Phytic acid is one of such inhibitors. Phytic acid present in cereals and legumes-based diet has been shown to inhibit iron uptake in-vivo as well as in cell culture models. However, in case of liposomal iron delivery it provides a better delivery system for iron in the sense that iron uptake occurs without getting affected by dietary inhibitors.6 A recent study has shown remarkable report accentuating the fact that oral liposomal iron can be considered as a safe and efficacious alternative to IV iron gluconate for correcting iron deficiency in non-dialysis-chr...