Concentration- and Temperature-Induced Effects of Incorporated Desmopressin on the Properties of Reverse Hexagonal Mesophase

Lipidic lyotropic liquid crystals: Insights on biomedical applications

Liquid crystals (LCs) possess unique physicochemical properties, translatable into a wide range of applications. To date, lipidic lyotropic LCs (LLCs) have been extensively explored in drug delivery and imaging owing to the capability to encapsulate and release payloads with different characteristics. The current landscape of lipidic LLCs in biomedical applications is provided in this review. Initially, the main properties, types, methods of fabrication and applications of LCs are showcased. Then, a comprehensive discussion of the main biomedical applications of lipidic LLCs accordingly to the application (drug and biomacromolecule delivery, tissue engineering and molecular imaging) and route of administration is examined. Further discussion of the main limitations and perspectives of lipidic LLCs in biomedical applications are also provided. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Liquid crystals (LCs) are those systems between a solid and liquid state that possess unique morphological and physicochemical properties, translatable into a wide range of biomedical applications. A short description of the properties of LCs, their types and manufacturing procedures is given to serve as a background to the topic. Then, the latest and most innovative research in the field of biomedicine is examined, specifically the areas of drug and biomacromolecule delivery, tissue engineering and molecular imaging. Finally, prospects of LCs in biomedicine are discussed to show future trends and perspectives that might be utilized. This article is an ampliation, improvement and actualization of our previous short forum article "Bringing lipidic lyotropic liquid crystal technology into biomedicine" published in TIPS.

Comparative study of extension area based methods for spectrophotometric determination of desmopressin acetate in the presence of its acid-induced degradation products

Desmopressin acetate (DPA) is a synthetic analogue of vasopressin used in the treatment of diabetes insipidus, bedwetting, hemophilia A, and elevated levels of urea in the blood. Sensitive and selective stability-indicating methods are needed to be developed and validated for its assay pure and pharmaceutical dosage forms in the presence of its degradation products as no method has been reported for its determination in the presence of its degradants. This work describes a comparative study of five simple stability-indicating spectrophotometric techniques for determination of DPA in presence of its acid-degradation products (acid-degradants) without prior separation. The proposed spectrophotometric techniques (First derivative, Derivative ratio, Ratio difference, Mean centering and Dual wavelength) were developed and validated according to ICH guidelines. Acid degradation was carried out with 0.1 N HCl; the acid-degradants were separated on TLC plates and the acidic degradation pathway was established by IR, H-NMR and MS techniques. The TLC method was based on the separation of DPA and its acid-induced degradation products on silica gel plates using methanol: water (80:20, v/v) as a developing system and UV detection at 254 nm. All assay suggested methods were successfully applied for quantitation of DPA in pure and tablet forms. They are specific, sensitive, precise and accurate. They showed good linearity in the concentration range of 1-14 µg/mL with good correlation coefficients, and limit of detection (LOD) of 0.304, 0.274, 0.167, 0.248 and 0.199 and limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 0.920, 0.829, 0.506, 0.751 and 0.604) for each method, respectively. These methods were successfully applied for the simultaneous determination of DPA in its pure and tablet dosage form in the presence of its acid-degradants. The results obtained were statistically comparable with those of reported HPLC assay method; no significant differences were observed with relevance to accuracy and precision. All the methods are sensitive, selective and can be used for the routine analysis of DPA in its pure and dosage forms.

Cubic and Hexagonal Mesophases for Protein Encapsulation: Structural Effects of Insulin Confinement

Monoolein-based cubic and hexagonal mesophases were investigated as matrices for insulin loading, at low pH, as a function of temperature and in the presence of increasing amounts of oleic acid, as a structural stabilizer for the hexagonal phase. Synchrotron small angle X-ray diffraction, rheological measurements, and attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to study the effects of insulin loading on the lipid mesophases and of the effect of protein confinement in the 2D- and 3D-lipid matrix water channels on its stability and unfolding behavior. We found that insulin encapsulation has only little effects both on the mesophase structures and on the viscoelastic properties of lipid systems, whereas protein confinement affects the response of the secondary structure of insulin to thermal changes in a different manner according to the specific mesophase: in the cubic structure, the unfolding toward an unordered structure is favored, while the prevalence of parallel β-sheets, and nuclei for fibril formation, is observed in hexagonal structures.

The liquid crystalline phase behaviour of a nasal formulation modifies the brain disposition of donepezil in rats in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Although nanoparticles, polymeric micelles, liposomes, nanoemulsions, and microemulsions were extensively evaluated as formulations for nasal administration of drugs, lyotropic liquid crystal (LLC) mesophases have been few studied. The phase transition from a low-viscosity microemulsion to a more viscous LLC may improve the mucoadhesion of the formulation. Donepezil is a drug administered orally in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, and with gastrointestinal side effects that are typical of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. Based on this, donepezil administration by nasal pathway using a mucoadhesive LLC may be a feasible alternative. A colloidal formulation was selected from a ternary diagram, combining CETETH-10, oleic acid, and water (40:45:15, w/w). Donepezil was incorporated into the formulation, and the characterisation included in vitro studies, such as mucoadhesion and drug release. Pharmacokinetics in Wistar rats included evaluations by the nasal pathway with donepezil incorporated into microemulsion. A phase transition from an isotropic to an anisotropic system was observed after the swelling of the microemulsion with artificial nasal fluid (12-20 %). The release of donepezil in vitro occurred in a sustained manner. Significant levels of donepezil were achieved in the brain after nasal administration of the microemulsion, as a promising strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Vancomycin Loaded Glycerol Monooleate Liquid Crystalline Phases Modified with Surfactants

The influence of two tuning agents, polyglycerol ester (PE) and triblock copolymer (TC), on the properties of glycerol monooleate (MO) liquid crystalline phase (LCP) was investigated to achieve the therapeutic concentration of vancomycin hydrochloride (VHCl) into the eye, topically during 60 min (1 h) and intravitreally during 2880 min (48 h). Different techniques were used to elucidate the impact of surfactants on the structure of the LCP: polarized light microscopy (PLM), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and in vitro release tests I and II (simulating local and intravitreal application in the eye). The structure analysis by SAXS depicts that the inclusion of PE into the MO LCP provided partial transition of a hexagonal phase into a lamellar phase, and TC induced a partial transition of a hexagonal phase into an LCP which identification was difficult. The LCP modulated with PE and TC demonstrated different VHCl's release patterns and were evaluated by comparing our release data with the literature data. The comparison indicated that the LCP modulated with 30% w/w PE could be a promising VHCl delivery system intravitreally during 2880 min.

Controlling insulin release from reverse hexagonal (HII) liquid crystalline mesophase by enzymatic lipolysis

In the present study we aimed to control insulin release from the reverse hexagonal (H_II) mesophase using Thermomyces lanuginosa lipase (TLL) in the environment (outer TLL) or within the H_II cylinders (inner TLL). Two insulin-loaded systems differing by the presence (or absence) of phosphatidylcholine (PC) were examined. In general, incorporation of PC into the H_II interface (without TLL) increased insulin release, as a more cooperative system was formed. Addition of TLL to the systems' environments resulted in lipolysis of the H_II structure. In the absence of PC, the lipolysis was more dominant and led to a significant increase in insulin release (50% after 8h). However, the presence of PC stabilized the interface, hindering the lipolysis, and therefore no impact on the release profile was detected during the first 8h. Entrapment of TLL within the H_II cylinders (with and without PC) drastically increased insulin release in both systems up to 100%. In the presence of PC insulin released faster and the structure was more stable. Consequently, the presence of lipases (inner or outer) both enhanced the destruction of the carrier, and provided sustained release of the entrapped insulin.

Solvation Dynamics in Different Phases of the Lyotropic Liquid Crystalline System

Reverse hexagonal (HII) liquid crystalline material based on glycerol monooleate (GMO) is considered as a potential carrier for drugs and other important biomolecules due to its thermotropic phase change and excellent morphology. In this work, the dynamics of encapsulated water, which plays important role in stabilization and formation of reverse hexagonal mesophase, has been investigated by time dependent Stokes shift method using Coumarin-343 as a solvation probe. The formation of the reverse hexagonal mesophase (HII) and transformation to the L2 phase have been monitored using small-angle X-ray scattering and polarized light microscopy experiments. REES studies suggest the existence of different polar regions in both HII and L2 systems. The solvation dynamics study inside the reverse hexagonal (HII) phase reveals the existence of two different types of water molecules exhibiting dynamics on a 120-900 ps time scale. The estimated diffusion coefficients of both types of water molecules obtained from the observed dynamics are in good agreement with the measured diffusion coefficient collected from the NMR study. The calculated activation energy is found to be 2.05 kcal/mol, which is associated with coupled rotational-translational water relaxation dynamics upon the transition from "bound" to "quasi-free" state. The observed ∼2 ns faster dynamics of the L2 phase compared to the HII phase may be associated with both the phase transformation as well as thermotropic effect on the relaxation process. Microviscosities calculated from time-resolved anisotropy studies infer that the interface is almost ∼22 times higher viscous than the central part of the cylinder. Overall, our results reveal the unique dynamical features of water inside the cylinder of reverse hexagonal and inverse micellar phases.

Impact of monoolein on aquaporin1-based supported lipid bilayer membranes

Aquaporin (AQP) based biomimetic membranes have attracted considerable attention for their potential water purification applications. In this paper, AQP1 incorporated biomimetic membranes were prepared and characterized. The morphology and structure of the biomimetic membranes were characterized by in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM), infrared absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and contact angle measurements. The nanofiltration performance of the AQP1 incorporated membranes was investigated at 4 bar by using 2 g l^-1 NaCl as feed solution. Lipid mobility plays an important role in the performance of the AQP1 incorporated supported lipid bilayer (SLB) membranes. We demonstrated that the lipid mobility is successfully tuned by the addition of monoolein (MO). Through in situ AFM and fluorescence recovery after photo-bleaching (FRAP) measurements, the membrane morphology and the molecular mobility were studied. The lipid mobility increased in the sequence DPPC < DPPC/MO (R_MO = 5/5) < DOPC/MO (R_MO = 5/5) < DOPC, which is consistent with the flux increment and salt rejection. This study may provide some useful insights for improving the water purification performance of biomimetic membranes.

Optimized loading and sustained release of hydrophilic proteins from internally nanostructured particles

In this study, we demonstrate that emulsified microemulsions and micellar cubosomes are suitable as sustained delivery vehicles for water-soluble proteins. Through structural modifications, the loading efficiency of two model proteins, namely bovine serum albumin (BSA) and cytochrome c could be remarkably increased. A procedure for preparing these particles loaded with optimized amounts of sensitive substances is presented. Loading and dispersion at low temperatures is performed in two successive steps. First, a water-in-oil microemulsion is loaded with the proteins. Subsequently, this phase is dispersed in water resulting in particles with microemulsion and micellar cubic internal structure and a size of approximately 620 nm. This two-step method ensures optimal loading of the particles with the proteins. These nanostructured particles are able to sustain the release of the water-soluble BSA and cytochrome c. Within one day, less than 10% of BSA and 15% of cytochrome c are released. The release rate of cytochrome c is influenced by the nanostructure of the particles.

Nanostructured self assembled lipid materials for drug delivery and tissue engineering

Every living organism comprises of lipids as basic building blocks in addition to other components. Utilizing these lipids for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications can overcome biocompatibility and biodegradability issues. A well known example is liposomes (lipids arranged in lamellar structures), but other than that there are additional unique mesophasic structures of lipids formed as a result of lipid polymorphisms, which include cubic-, hexagonal- or sponge-phase structures. These structures provide the advantages of stability and production feasibility compared with liposomes. Cubosomes, which exist in a cubic structure, have improved stability, bioadhesivity and biocompatibility. Hexagonal phases or hexosomes exhibit hexagonal arrangements and can encapsulate different drugs with high stability. Lipids also forms tube-like structures known as tubules and ribbons that are also utilized in different biomedical applications, especially in tissue engineering. Immune stimulating complexes are nanocage-like structures formed as a result of interactions of lipid, antigen and Quillaja saponin. These lipidic mesophasic structures have been utilized for gene, vaccine and drug delivery. This article addresses lipid self-assembled supramolecular nanostructures, including cubosomes, hexosomes, tubules, ribbons, cochleates, lipoplexes and immune stimulating complexes and their biomedical applications.

Complex dendrimer-lyotropic liquid crystalline systems: structural behavior and interactions

The incorporation of dendrimer into three lyotropic liquid crystalline (LLCs) mesophases is demonstrated for the first time. A second generation (G2) of poly(propylene imine) dendrimer (PPI) was solubilized into lamellar, diamond reverse cubic, and reverse hexagonal LLCs composed of glycerol monooleate (GMO), and water (and D-α-tocopherol in the H(II) system). The combination of PPI with LLCs may provide an advantageous drug delivery system. Cross-polarized light microscope, small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) were utilized to study the structural behavior of the mesophases, the localization of PPI within the system, and the interactions between the guest molecule and the system's components. It was revealed that PPI-G2 functioned as a "water pump", competing with the lipid headgroups for water binding. As a result, L(α)→H(II) and Q(224)→H(II) structural shifts were detected (at 10 wt % PPI-G2 content), probably caused by the dehydration of monoolein headgroups and subsequent increase of the lipid's critical packing parameter (CPP). In the case of H(II), as a result of the balance between the dehydration of the monoolein headgroups and the significant presence of PPI within the interfacial region, increasing the quantity of hydrogen bonds, no structural transitions occurred. ATR-FTIR analysis demonstrated a downward shift of the H-O-H (water), as a result of PPI-G2 embedment, suggesting an increase in the mean water-water H-bond angle resulting from binding PPI-G2 to the water network. Additionally, the GMO hydroxyl groups at β- and γ-C-OH positions revealed a partial interaction of hydrogen bonds with N-H functional groups of the protonated PPI-G2. Other GMO interfacial functional groups were shown to interact with the PPI-G2, in parallel with the GMO dehydration phenomenon. In the future, these outcomes can be used to design advanced drug delivery systems, allowing administration of dendrimers as a therapeutic agent from LLCs.