Table 2.

Differences between liposomes, transfersomes, ethosomes, and transethosomes.

Characters	Liposomes	Transfersomes	Ethosomes	Transethosomes	References
Vesicles	Bilayer lipid vesicle	2nd generation elastic lipid vesicle carriers	3rd generation elastic lipid vesicle carriers	3rd generation	[2,24,32]
Lamellarity	Uni/bilayer lipid vesicle	Double bilayer lipid vesicle	Multiple bilayer lipid vesicle	Multiple bilayer lipid vesicle
Composition	Phospholipids and cholesterol	Phospholipids and edge activator surfactant	Phospholipids and ethanol	Phospholipids, edge activator surfactant, and ethanol	[2,24,32,42,53,54,56,76]
Surfactant role	Phospholipid (lecithin)	Sodium deoxycholate	Phospholipid (lecithin) and ethanol	Sodium deoxycholate, oleic acid
Characteristics	Microscopic spheres (vesicles)	Ultraflexible liposome	Elastic liposome	Ultraflexible elastic liposome	[2,24,32,42,53,54,56,76]
Flexibility	Rigid in nature	High deformability due to the surfactant	High deformability and elasticity due to the ethanol	Ultra-deformability due to the surfactant and ethanol	[2,53,54,56,76]
Permeation mechanism	Diffusion/fusion/lipolysis	Deformation of vesicle	Lipid perturbation	Lipid perturbation due to the ethanol and deformation of vesicles by surfactant	[2,24,32,56,76]
ζ potential	Neutral	Positive or negative	Negative	Positive or negative
Extent of skin penetration	The penetration rate is significantly lower, as the stiff shape and size do not allow it to pass through the stratum corneum	Can easily penetrate through paracellular space due to the flexible structure	Can easily penetrate through paracellular space via ethanol effect	Can easily penetrate through paracellular space via flexible structure and ethanol effect	[2,24,32,42,53,54,56,76]
Route of administration	Oral, parenteral, topical, and transdermal	Topical and transdermal	Topical and transdermal	Topical and transdermal	[2,24,32,42,53,54,56,76]
Limitations	It cannot penetrate into deeper skin	Due to the surfactant, it may cause skin irritation and stable in gel form only	All drugs are non-soluble in ethanol	Due to the surfactant, it may cause skin irritation, and drug loss during the process of formulation	[2,24,32,42,53,54,56,76]
Marketed products	AmBisome, DaunoXome Doxil, Abelcet	Transfersomes® (Idea AG) Flexiseq	Nanominox, Cellutight EF, Noicellex, Decorin Cream	Nil	[2,24,32,42,53,54,56,76]