Preparation and characterization of mPEG modified magnetic longcirculating epirubicin liposomes
1.School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang Jiangsu 212013; 2.Jiangsu Gibel Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Zhenjiang Jiangsu 212009, China
Abstract:Objective: To prepare new dosage form of targeted anti-cancer drug, epirubicin long-circulating magnetic liposomes. Methods: Fe3O4magnetic particles were synthesized by the chemical co-precipitation method. Long-circulating epirubicin liposomes were prepared by the ammonium sulphate gradients with ethanol injection, and the methoxy polyethylene glycol(mPEG) was added to modify the membrane property of the liposomes. The characteristics of liposomes were measured by transmission electron microscope (TEM), external magnetic field and FT-IR. The entrapment efficiency of epirubicin was measured by Sephadex-UV method, and the influence of preparation conditions on the encapsulation efficiency of epirubicin was studied to obtain the optimum conditions. Results: The magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles were nearly spherical in shape with an average diameter of around 20 nm. The longcirculating epirubicin liposomes were nearly round with an average particle of 50 nm. The entrapment efficiency of epirubicin was determined to be 575%. Meanwhile, the experiment results indicated that the long-circulating epirubicin liposomes show good magnetic response, in vitro stability and sustained release property. Conclusion: The method for the preparation of longcirculating epirubicin liposomes in this work was easy to be performed with the merits of high encapulation efficiency and reproducibility.