Cosmetic and/or pharmaceutical composition containing a dispersion of lipid vesicles, process for the preparation of the said dispersion and dispersion of lipid vesicles

Claim 2

A composition comprising, in an aqueous dispersion phase, a dispersion of lipid vesicles encapsulating an aqueous phase, said lipid vesicles comprising a lipid phase containing (a) an ionic amphiphilic lipid or (b) a nonionic amphiphilic lipid, or a mixture of (a) and (b), together with (c) a compound having the formula wherein (a) W represents --CH 2 OH, --COOM or --(CH 2 ) 2 --COOM, wherein M represents H, alkali metal or alkaline earth metal and X, Y, Z and V, each independently, represent hydrogen or hydroxyl, with the proviso that when W represents --CH 2 OH at least one of X, Y, Z or V represents hydroxyl, or (b) W represents --CH 3 and X, Y, Z and V represent H or OH combined as shown in each line of the table below: ______________________________________ X Y Z V ______________________________________ OH OH OH OH H OH OH H H H OH OH OH H OH H ______________________________________ with the proviso that the compound of formula (I) is not phytanetriol; 3-hydroxymethyl-7,11-15-trimethyl-1,2,4-trihydroxyhexadecane; 5,9,13,17-tetramethyloctadecanoic acid or 3,7,11,15 tetramethyloctadecanoic acid.

Claim 3

The composition of claim 1 wherein said compound of formula (I) represents from 5% to 90% by weight of said lipid vesicles.

Claim 4

The composition of claim 1 wherein the lipid of said vesicles is a nonionic amphiphilic lipid selected from the group consisting of (1) a linear or branched glycerol derivative having the formula ##STR16## wherein --C 3 H 5 (OH)O--, jointly or separately represents --CH 2 CHOHCH 2 O--, ##STR17## n has a mean statistical value ranging from 1 to 6, or when n represents 1 or 2 then --C 3 H 5 (OH)O-- represents --CH 2 CHOH--CH 2 O--, R 0 represents (a) an aliphatic, linear or branched, saturated or unsaturated chain containing 12 to 30 carbon atoms or a lanolin alcohol hydrocarbon chain, or the residue of a long chain alpha-diol, (b) R 1 CO wherein R 1 represents an aliphatic, linear or branched, radical having 11 to 29 carbon atoms, or ##STR18## wherein R 2 represents (a) or (b) defined above for R 0 and wherein --OC 2 H 3 (R 3 )- represents, jointly or separately, ##STR19## wherein R 3 represents (a) defined above for R 0 ; (2) a linear or branched polyglycerol ether having two fatty chains; (3) a diol containing a fatty chain; (4) a fatty oxyethylenated alcohol, a fatty non-oxyethylenated alcohol, an oxyethylenated phytosterol, a non-oxyethylenated phytosterol, an oxyethylenated sterol or a non-oxyethylenated sterol; (5) an oxyethylenated ether of a polyol, a non-oxyethylenated ether of a polyol, an oxyethylenated ester of a polyol or a non-oxyethylenated ester of a polyol, wherein the ethylene oxide chain is linear or cyclic; (6) a natural or synthetic glycolipid, an ether or ester of a mono- or polysaccharide or an ether or ester of glucose; (7) a hydroxyamide having the formula ##STR20## wherein R 4 represents alkyl or alkenyl having 7 to 21 carbon atoms, R 5 represents a saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon having 7 to 31 carbon atoms, COA represents a member selected from the group consisting of ##STR21## wherein B is an alkyl radical derived from a mono- or polyhydroxylated, primary or secondary amine; and R 6 represents hydrogen or methyl, and (ii) --COOZ wherein Z represents a polyol residue having 3 to 7 carbon atoms; (8) a natural or synthetic ceramide; (9) an oxyethylenated fatty amine or a dihydroxyalkylamine; and (10) a glycerol derivative having the formula ##STR22## wherein R 7 represents linear C 14 -C 18 alkyl or a --CH 2 A group wherein A is --OR 14 , R 14 representing linear C 10 -C 18 alkyl and n represents a mean statistical value greater than 1 and at most equal to 3 and when R 7 =--CH 2 A, n can also represent a true, non-statistical value equal to 2.

Claim 5

The composition of claim 1 wherein the lipid of said vesicles is an ionic amphiphilic lipid selected from the group consisting of (1) an anionic amphiphilic lipid selected from the group consisting of a natural phospholipid, a chemically or enzymatically modified phospholipid, a synthetic phospholipid, a compound having the formula ##STR23## wherein R 8 represents alkyl or alkenyl having 7 to 21 carbon atoms, R 9 represents a saturated or unsaturated C 7 -C 31 hydrocarbon radical and M 1 represents H, Na, K, NH 4 or a substituted ammonium ion derived from an amine; (2) an anionic compound selected from the group consisting of a phosphoric ester of a fatty alcohol, heptylnonylbenzenesulfonic acid, cholesterol acid sulfate or an alkaline salt thereof, cholesterol acid phosphate or an alkaline salt thereof, a lysolecithin, an alkyl sulfate and a ganglioside; and (3) a cationic amphiphilic lipid selected from the group consisting of a quaternary ammonium derived compound having the formula ##STR24## wherein R 10 and R 11 , each independently, represent C 12 -C 20 alkyl and R 12 and R 13 , each independently, represent C 1 -C 4 alkyl; a long chain amine or a quaternary ammonium derivative thereof; and a long chain amino alcohol ester or a salt thereof or a quaternary ammonium derivative thereof.

Claim 6

The composition of claim 1 wherein said aqueous dispersion phase is selected from the group consisting of water, a mixture of water and a C 1 -C 7 alcohol, a mixture of water and a C 1 -C 5 alkyl polyol, and mixtures thereof.

Claim 7

The composition of claim 1 wherein said lipid vesicles are present in an amount ranging from 0.01 to 50 percent by weight based on the total weight of said dispersion.

Claim 8

The composition of claim 1 where in said lipid phase said ionic amphiphilic lipid (a) or said nonionic amphiphilic lipid (b) or a mixture thereof is present in an amount ranging from 10 to 95 percent by weight relative to the total weight of said lipid phase.

Claim 9

The composition of claim 1 where in said lipid phase said ionic amphiphilic lipid (a) or said nonionic amphiphilic lipid (b) or a mixture thereof is present in an amount ranging from 40 to 90 percent by weight relative to the total weight of said lipid phase.

Claim 10

The composition of claim 1 wherein said lipid vesicles have a size ranging from 20 to 3000 nm.

Claim 11

The composition of claim 1 wherein said lipid vesicles have a size ranging from 20 to 500 nm.

Claim 12

The composition of claim 1 further comprising an active principle having cosmetic action, an active principle having pharmaceutic action, or a mixture thereof.

Claim 13

The composition of claim 1 wherein said lipid phase of said lipid vesicles further comprises at least one cosmetically active liposoluble compound or pharmaceutically active liposoluble compound, or a mixture thereof.

Claim 14

The composition of claim 1 wherein said aqueous phase encapsulated in said lipid vesicles further comprises at least one cosmetically active water-soluble compound, or a pharmaceutically active water-soluble compound, or a mixture thereof.

Claim 15

The composition of claim 1 wherein said aqueous dispersion phase further comprises at least one cosmetically active water-soluble compound or a pharmaceutically active water-soluble compound, or a mixture thereof.

Claim 16

The composition of claim 1 in the form of a gel or lotion.