EFFECT OF THE CHOLESTEROL CONTENT OF SMALL UNILAMELLAR LIPOSOMES ON THEIR STABILITY INVIVO AND INVITRO
EFFECT OF THE CHOLESTEROL CONTENT OF SMALL UNILAMELLAR LIPOSOMES ON THEIR STABILITY INVIVO AND INVITRO
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DOI:
10.1042/bj1860591
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发表时间:
1980-01-01
影响因子:
4.1
通讯作者:
GREGORIADIS, G
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
KIRBY, C;CLARKE, J;GREGORIADIS, G
An important prerequisite for the effective use of liposomes as a drug carrier is control over their stability. Small unilamellar neutral, negatively and positively charged liposomes composed of egg phosphatidylcholine, various amounts of cholesterol and, when appropriate, phosphatidic acid or stearylamine and containing 6-carboxyfluorescein were injected into mice, incubated with mouse whole blood, plasma or serum or stored at 4.degree. C. Liposomal stability, i.e., the extent to which 6-carboxyfluorescein is retained by liposomes, was dependent on their cholesterol content. Cholesterol-rich (egg phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol, 7:7 molar ratio) liposomes, regardless of surface charge, remained stable in the blood of i.v. injected animals for up to at least 400 min. Stability of cholesterol-rich liposomes was largely maintained in vitro in the presence of whole blood, plasma or serum for at least 90 min. Cholesterol-poor (egg phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol, 7:2 molar ratio) or cholesterol-free (egg phosphatidylcholine) liposomes lost very rapidly (at most within 2 min) much of their stability after i.v. injection or upon contact with whole blood, plasma or serum. Whole blood and to some extent plasma were less detrimental to stability than was serum. After i.p. injection, neutral cholesterol-rich liposomes survived in the peritoneal cavity to enter the blood circulation in their intact form. Liposomes injected i.m. entered the circulation, but with somewhat diminished stability. Stability of neutral and negatively charged cholesterol-rich liposomes stored at 4.degree. C was maintained for several days, and by 53 days it had declined only moderately. Stored liposomes retained their unilamellar structure and their ability to remain stable in the blood after i.v. injection. Control of liposomal stability by adjusting their cholesterol content may help in the design of liposomes for effective use in biological systems in vivo and in vitro.