Liposomal delivery enhances absorption of vitamin C into plasma and leukocytes: A double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial
Open accessAbstract
Abstract Purpose L-Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is an essential water-soluble vitamin that plays an important role in various physiological functions, including immune health. The stability of vitamin C in the gastrointestinal tract its bioavailability is limited. This study aimed to investigate if a liposomal form of vitamin C can increase absorption compared to standard vitamin C. Methods In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover fashion, 19 males and 8 females (n = 27; 36.0 ± 5.1 years, 165.0 ± 6.9 cm, 70.6 ± 7.1 kg) ingested a single-dose of placebo (PLA), 500 mg vitamin C (VIT C), and 500 mg liposomal vitamin C (LV-VIT C, LipoVantage®, Specnova, LLC, Tyson Corner, VA, USA). Venous blood samples were collected 0, 0.5-, 1-, 1.5-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 6-, 8-, 12-, and 24-hours after ingestion and were analyzed for plasma and leukocyte vitamin C concentration. Results VIT C and LV-VIT C demonstrated significantly greater Cmax and AUC0 − 24 in plasma and in leukocytes compared to placebo (p < 0.001). Additionally, LV-VIT C had significantly higher Cmax (plasma + 27%, leukocytes + 20%, p < 0.001) and AUC0 − 24 (plasma + 21%, leukocytes + 8%, p < 0.001) values as compared to VIT C. Conclusion Liposomal formulation of vitamin C increases absorption into plasma and leukocytes. Trial Registration Clinical Trials Registry - India (CTRI/2023/04/051789).
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Intervention studies on liposomal-encapsulated forms had non-liposomal vitamin C as the comparator.
“Intervention studies on liposomal-encapsulated forms had non-liposomal vitamin C as the comparator [12,36,37].”
From Enhanced Vitamin C Delivery: A Systematic Literature Review Assessing the Efficacy and Safety of Alternative Supplement Forms in Healthy Adults (2025) · cites this paper as [37]
In healthy adults, both standard and liposomal vitamin C significantly increased vitamin C levels compared to placebo.
“Both standard and liposomal vitamin C significantly increased vitamin C levels compared to placebo (p < 0.001).”
From Enhanced Vitamin C Delivery: A Systematic Literature Review Assessing the Efficacy and Safety of Alternative Supplement Forms in Healthy Adults (2025) · cites this paper as [37]
Only four studies (31%) reported leukocyte vitamin C concentration, three (in four articles) for Calcium ascorbate EC and one for liposomal-encapsulated vitamin C.
“Only four studies (31%) reported leukocyte vitamin C concentration, three (in four articles) for Calcium ascorbate EC [16,27,30,38] and one for liposomal-encapsulated vitamin C [37].”
From Enhanced Vitamin C Delivery: A Systematic Literature Review Assessing the Efficacy and Safety of Alternative Supplement Forms in Healthy Adults (2025) · cites this paper as [37]
In healthy adults, a single 500 mg dose of liposomal vitamin C (LipoVantage®) resulted in higher plasma and leukocyte vitamin C Cmax and AUC0-24 h than standard ascorbic acid.
“However, the liposomal form resulted in even higher concentrations in both plasma and leukocytes, indicating improved absorption (Cmax [plasma + 27%, leukocytes + 20%, p < 0.001] and AUC0–24 h [plasma + 21%, leukocytes + 8%, p < 0.001]) compared to standard ascorbic acid [37].”
From Enhanced Vitamin C Delivery: A Systematic Literature Review Assessing the Efficacy and Safety of Alternative Supplement Forms in Healthy Adults (2025) · cites this paper as [37]
Out of thirteen analyzed studies, eight (62%) did not report any adverse events for the intervention or comparators.
“Out of the thirteen analyzed studies, eight (62%) did not report any adverse events, either for the intervention or the comparators [12,27,30,31,33,35,36,37].”
From Enhanced Vitamin C Delivery: A Systematic Literature Review Assessing the Efficacy and Safety of Alternative Supplement Forms in Healthy Adults (2025) · cites this paper as [37]
From the NICE checklist quality assessment of thirteen RCTs, ten (77%) showed low risk of bias, two (15%) high risk, and one (8%) unclear risk.
“From the assessment of the methodological quality of thirteen RCTs, ten (77%) showed a low risk of bias [12,16,27,28,29,30,31,32,35,37,38], two (15%) showed a high risk of bias [33,36] and one (8%) showed an unclear risk of bias [34].”
From Enhanced Vitamin C Delivery: A Systematic Literature Review Assessing the Efficacy and Safety of Alternative Supplement Forms in Healthy Adults (2025) · cites this paper as [37]
Four included studies reported vitamin C concentration in both plasma and leukocytes for different formulations; two examined 1000 mg doses and two examined lower doses (250 and 500 mg).
“Four included studies reported vitamin C concentration in both plasma and leukocytes for different formulations. Two studies examined 1000 mg doses [16,27], and two examined lower doses (250 and 500 mg) [30,37].”
From Enhanced Vitamin C Delivery: A Systematic Literature Review Assessing the Efficacy and Safety of Alternative Supplement Forms in Healthy Adults (2025) · cites this paper as [37]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Liposomes as nanomedical devices
Bozzuto, G., & Molinari, A. (2015) · International Journal of Nanomedicine · doi:10.2147/ijn.s68861 · Cited by 2,305 · see citing works
Carr, A., & Maggini, S. (2017) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu9111211 · Cited by 2,035 · see citing works
rstatix: Pipe-Friendly Framework for Basic Statistical Tests
Kassambara, A. (2019) · doi:10.32614/cran.package.rstatix · Cited by 1,895 · see citing works
Health-promoting components of fruits and vegetables in the diet.
Liu, R. H. (2013) · Advances in Nutrition · doi:10.3945/an.112.003517 · Cited by 1,310 · see citing works
The big picture on nanomedicine: the state of investigational and approved nanomedicine products
Etheridge, M. L., Campbell, S. A., Erdman, A. G., Haynes, C. L., Wolf, S. M., & McCullough, J. (2013) · Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.nano.2012.05.013 · Cited by 1,088 · cited 1× · see citing works
“However, liposomes applied to medical use range between 50 and 450 nm [21].”
BackgroundA family of mammalian Na+-dependent L-ascorbic acid transporters
Tsukaguchi, H., Tokui, T., Mackenzie, B., Berger, U. V., Chen, X.-Z., Wang, Y., Brubaker, R. F., & Hediger, M. A. (1999) · Nature · doi:10.1038/19986 · Cited by 882 · see citing works
Vitamin C in Human Health and Disease Is Still a Mystery? An Overview
Naidu, K. A. (2003) · Nutrition Journal · doi:10.1186/1475-2891-2-7 · Cited by 810 · see citing works
Mezei, M., & Gulasekharam, V. (1980) · Life Sciences · doi:10.1016/0024-3205(80)90268-4 · Cited by 502 · see citing works
REGULATION OF VITAMIN C TRANSPORT
Wilson, J. X. (2005) · Annual Review of Nutrition · doi:10.1146/annurev.nutr.25.050304.092647 · Cited by 376 · see citing works
Generation of multilamellar and unilamellar phospholipid vesicles
Hope, M. J., Bally, M. B., Mayer, L. D., Janoff, A. S., & Cullis, P. R. (1986) · Chemistry and Physics of Lipids · doi:10.1016/0009-3084(86)90065-4 · Cited by 352 · see citing works
The Pharmacokinetics of Vitamin C
Lykkesfeldt, J., & Tveden-Nyborg, P. (2019) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu11102412 · Cited by 344 · see citing works
Lee, S., Choi, Y., Jeong, H. S., Lee, J., & Sung, J. (2017) · Food Science and Biotechnology · doi:10.1007/s10068-017-0281-1 · Cited by 239 · see citing works
The Roles and Mechanisms of Actions of Vitamin C in Bone: New Developments
Aghajanian, P., Hall, S. L., Wongworawat, M. D., & Mohan, S. (2015) · Journal of Bone and Mineral Research · doi:10.1002/jbmr.2709 · Cited by 232 · see citing works
Dietary vitamin C in human health
Granger, M., & Eck, P. (2018) · Advances in food and nutrition research · doi:10.1016/bs.afnr.2017.11.006 · Cited by 217 · see citing works
Regulation of vitamin C homeostasis during deficiency
Lindblad, M., Tveden-Nyborg, P., & Lykkesfeldt, J. (2013) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu5082860 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Vitamin C: should we supplement?
de Man, A., Elbers, P., & Straaten, H. M. O. (2018) · Current Opinion in Critical Care · doi:10.1097/mcc.0000000000000510 · Cited by 131 · see citing works
From “Banghasomes” to liposomes: A memoir of Alec Bangham, 1921–2010
Deamer, D. W. (2010) · The FASEB Journal · doi:10.1096/fj.10-0503 · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Assessment of human vitamin C status
Jacob, R. A. (1990) · The Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1093/jn/120.suppl_11.1480 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Vitamin C intake and susceptibility to the common cold
Hemilä, H. (1997) · British Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s0007114500002889 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Gopi, S., & Balakrishnan, P. (2021) · Journal of Liposome Research · doi:10.1080/08982104.2020.1820521 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Davis, J., Paris, H. L. R., Beals, J. W., Binns, S. E., Giordano, G., Scalzo, R. L., Schweder, M. M., Blair, E., & Bell, C. (2016) · Nutrition and Metabolic Insights · doi:10.4137/nmi.s39764 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
New oral liposomal vitamin C formulation: properties and bioavailability
Łukawski, M., Dałek, P., Borowik, T., Foryś, A., Langner, M., Witkiewicz, W., & Przybyło, M. (2019) · Journal of Liposome Research · doi:10.1080/08982104.2019.1630642 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
Valdés, F. (2006) · Actas Dermo-Sifiliográficas · doi:10.1016/s0001-7310(06)73466-4 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Pharmacokinetics of oral vitamin C
Hickey, S., Roberts, H. J., & Miller, N. J. (2008) · Journal of Nutritional & Environmental Medicine · doi:10.1080/13590840802305423 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Mitmesser, S. H., Ye, Q., Evans, M., & Combs, M. (2016) · SpringerPlus · doi:10.1186/s40064-016-2605-7 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Wen, C.-J., Chiang, C.-F., Lee, C.-S., Lin, Y.-H., & Tsai, J.-S. (2022) · Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology · doi:10.1166/jbn.2022.3274 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Vademecum for vitamin formulations
Bühler, V. (2002) · European Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1007/s00394-002-0364-4 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Xu, Y., Zheng, H., Slabu, I., Liehn, E. A., & Rusu, M. (2025) · Antioxidants · doi:10.3390/antiox14050506 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Verma, K., Nema, P. K., Badgujar, P. C., Venkatesh, K., Rajendran, A., & Loushigam, G. L. (2026) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2026.148058 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Stability, bioaccessibility and bioavailability of vitamins in different delivery systems.
Erem, E., Ozkan, G., Şahin-Yeşilçubuk, N., & Kilic-Akyilmaz, M. (2025) · Food Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2025.145452 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Zhao, H., Fu, W., Yang, X., Zhang, W., Wu, S., Ma, J., Zhang, T., Yao, H., & Zhang, Z. (2025) · Genes & Diseases · doi:10.1016/j.gendis.2025.101742 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Liposome Technology in Food Science: Structure, Preparation Techniques, and Functional Applications
Yang, R., Zhang, X., Si, J., Zhao, X., & Song, J. (2025) · Journal of Future Foods · doi:10.1016/j.jfutfo.2025.11.003 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Calder, P. C., Kreider, R. B., & McKay, D. L. (2025) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu17020279 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Dalimunthe, A., Tan, M.-S., Lu, F. C., Angiosaki, Y., Usman, A. N., Nugraha, S. E., Mahani, M., Halim, P., Yuandani, Nurkolis, F., et al. (2026) · Journal of Functional Foods · doi:10.1016/j.jff.2025.107119 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Phytomedicine nanoformulations for Parkinson's disease
Saji, C. V., Mohanakumar, K. P., & Shenoi, R. A. (2024) · Phytomedicine Plus · doi:10.1016/j.phyplu.2024.100704 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Carr, A. C. (2025) · Basic & Clinical Pharmacology & Toxicology · doi:10.1111/bcpt.70067 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Jäger, R., Purpura, M., Godavarthi, A., Ceylan, H. İ., Balcombe, S. T., Ambrish, C., & Tinsley, G. M. (2025) · Frontiers in Nutrition · doi:10.3389/fnut.2025.1605033 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationLiposomes in oral delivery: mechanisms, advances, challenges, and future perspectives
Pan, P., Ma, Y., Kong, S., Ahmed, K. S., & Wu, Z. (2026) · Journal of Liposome Research · doi:10.1080/08982104.2026.2675542 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Amalraj, A., Abraham, E. K., Jogy, A. M., & Gopi, S. (2025) · ACS Nutrition Science · doi:10.1021/acsnutrsci.5c00002 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Targeted nanoliposomal nutrient delivery for human health
Mercola, J. M. (2025) · World Journal of Gastrointestinal Pharmacology and Therapeutics · doi:10.4292/wjgpt.v16.i4.111502 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Dickerson, B., Gonzalez, D. E., Sowinski, R., Xing, D., Leonard, M., Kendra, J., Jenkins, V., Gopalakrishnan, S., Yoo, C., Ko, J., et al. (2024) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu16193358 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Vitamins A, E, and C: Mechanisms of Antioxidant Action and Physiological Impact
Koca, F., Yılmaz, E., & Çimen, L. (2025) · Sağlık Bilimleri Dergisi · doi:10.34108/eujhs.1727061 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Li, Y., Fu, M., Yu, L., Zhang, Z., Xue, Z., Huang, L., Olsen, R. E., Yao, Y., Yang, Y., Ran, C., et al. (2026) · Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology/Journal of animal science and biotechnology · doi:10.1186/s40104-026-01394-y · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Babatunde, J., Kindoussy, F. E., & de Souza, P. M. (2026) · Food Reviews International · doi:10.1080/87559129.2026.2703245 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Protective Effects of Liposomal Vitamin C on SARS-CoV-2 Target Viral Entry Genes in Renal Cells
Behmardi, A., Zolghadr, L., Rajaei, F., Khoei, S. G., & Gheibi, N. (2025) · Reports of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology · doi:10.61882/rbmb.13.4.484
Woo, Y. M., Lee, K. W., & Kim, A. (2025) · Journal of Functional Foods · doi:10.1016/j.jff.2025.107103
Miyagi, N., Yamamoto, S., & Takahashi, M. (2025) · Journal of Oleo Science · doi:10.5650/jos.ess25224
Purpura, M., Jäger, R., Godavarthi, A., Ceylan, H., Ambrish, C., & Tinsley, G. M. (2026) · Nutrition and Dietary Supplements · doi:10.2147/nds.s582434
Self-citationIntradermal Delivery of Catalase via Extracellular Vesicles for Targeted Photoaging Therapy
Zhang, P., Pan, B., Chen, J., Jiang, H., Wang, X., Chen, Y., Wang, W., Li, M., Zeng, Q., & Yang, Z. (2026) · Biomaterials Research · doi:10.34133/bmr.0329
Ahn, H., Lee, J., Park, J.-H., Barn, J. S., Kim, Y., & Kang, J. S. (2026) · Antioxidants · doi:10.3390/antiox15070796
Agarwal, S., Bhattacharyya, P., Roy, S. M., Roy, R., & Halder, R. (2026) · World Journal of Biology Pharmacy and Health Sciences · doi:10.30574/wjbphs.2026.28.1.0504
- Authors
- Purpura, M., Jäger, R., Godavarthi, A., Bhaskarachar, D., & Tinsley, G. M.
- Affiliations
- Increnovo LLC (United States) (US)
- Texas Tech University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Purpura, Martin
- Venue
- European Journal of Nutrition
- Published
- 2024-09-06
- Volume
- 63
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 3037-3046
- ISSN
- 1436-6207 (ISSN-L)
- 1436-6215
- PMC
- PMC11519160
- OpenAlex
- W4402323266
- Cited by
- 24
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 2
- FWCI
- 6.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- European Journal of Nutrition (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- SpecNova LLC (SpecNova LLC)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Vitamin C and Antioxidants Research
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmaceutical Science › Drug Solubulity and Delivery Systems
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Biochemistry › Antioxidant Activity and Oxidative Stress
- Keywords
- vitamin C, liposomal formulation, bioavailability, plasma vitamin C concentration, vitamin C absorption
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Ascorbic Acid, Biological Availability, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Intestinal Absorption, Leukocytes, Liposomes, Male, Middle Aged, Drug Delivery Systems, Cross-Over Studies, Dietary Supplements
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
