ABSTRACT
It has been demonstrated that the major practical obstacles to the development of liposome adjuvants can be overcome by the substitution of non-phospholipid amphiphiles for conventional phospholipid amphiphiles, and that the resultant non-phospholipid liposomes (NPL) can be effectively used as immunological adjuvants. Electron micrographs of the particles revealed all categories of liposomes now recognized, including the multilamellar vesicles later studied by A. D. Bangham et al and given the name liposome. There are doubts as to whether phospholipids are suitable structural materials for immunological adjuvants except on an experimental level. The severe tissue responses to oil emulsion adjuvants in particular Freund's complete adjuvant have led to the search for alternate immunological adjuvants. The more potent nonspecific adjuvants include mycobacteria, bentonite particles, and mineral oil emulsions. In order to stimulate a specific immune response two components are required, namely the antigen or immunologically specific substance, and an adjuvant, a component augmenting the immune response to the antigen.
