In vitro evaluation of liposomes containing bio-enhancers for the oral delivery of macromolecules

The aim of this work was to develop a new type of liposomes containing bio-enhancers for oral delivery of hydrophilic macromolecules. The study focused on EPC/cholesterol-based formulations combined with TPGS 1000 and 400, cholylsarcosine (CS), cetylpyridinium chloride (CpCl) and stearylamine (SA) covering a broad range of different types of enhancers. Most of the tested liposomal formulations and enhancers showed neither influence on cell viability in the Alamar Blue® assay nor an increase in lactate dehydrogenase LDH release. But, at a concentration of 1 mM, CpCl exhibited a strong toxicity after 2 h, TPGS 1000 reduced the cell viability at the same concentration after 8 h significantly. Only one liposomal formulation with 25% CpCl led to a decrease in viability to 60.0% after 8 h at a total lipid concentration of 5 mM. In the Caco-2 Transwell® model, one formulation with 5% TPGS 400 improved the permeation of FITC-dextran 70 kDa 3.34 ± 0.62-fold, one with 10% CpCl 3.69 ± 0.67 and one with 10% CS and 2.5% SA 3.41 ± 0.51-fold without influencing the TER. Liposomes with 10% SA or 25% CpCl increased the permeation of FITC-dextran 29.02 ± 5.84, respectively 39.28 ± 2.10-fold, but led also to a strong reduction in the TER. Especially, the three formulations which enhanced the permeation of FITC-dextran around 3.5-fold without showing any cell toxicity or decrease in TER should be safe and effective candidates for the development of an oral delivery system for hydrophilic macromolecules.

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