Development of Pegylated Liposomal Vincristine Using Novel Sulfobutyl Ether Cyclodextrin Gradient: Is Improved Drug Retention Sufficient to Surpass DSPE-PEG-Induced Drug Leakage?

The purpose of this study is to develop novel stable PEGylated liposome vincristine formulations with optimal antitumor efficacy. Vincristine could interact with negatively charged distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine-polyethylene glycol (DSPE-PEG), leading to rapid drug release from vesicles. To improve drug retention, vincristine was loaded into vesicles using sulfobutyl ether cyclodextrin (sbe-CD) as trapping agent. Despite that, vincristine could not form a precipitate with sbe-CD; the aggregation status of vincristine/sbe-CD inside vesicles must be complicated because drug retention was considerably improved in vivo. Theoretical consideration revealed that the release constant K equals to pAmk1k2/([H+]i[sbe−]iVi), which can be used to expound why increasing drug/lipid ratio induced decreased vincristine circulation half-life. The stabilization effect afforded by sbe-CD was sufficient to surpass DSPE-PEG-induced drug leakage, so PEGylated liposomal vincristine formulations with prolonged circulation half-life (t1/2: from 43.6 to 70.0 h) could be achieved, of which the formulation pLV-c-2.9-3 exhibited optimal antitumor effects and reduced toxicity. The strategy might be used to load other vinca alkaloids into PEGylated liposomes and improve their retention inside vesicles.