Preparation And Characterization Of Stable Ph-Sensitive Vesicles Composed Of Alpha-Tocopherol Hemisuccinate

The current study aims to develop a stable pH-sensitive drug delivery system. First, cleavable polyethylene glycol-alpha-tocopherol hemisuccinate (PEG-THS) was synthesized. Conventional pH-sensitive vesicles composed of the Tris salt of alpha-tocopherol hemisuccinate (THST) were then prepared using the detergent removal technique. The vesicles had a mean particle size of (163.8 +/- 5.5) nm and a zeta potential of -74.5 +/- 6.4 mV. The THST vesicles were then modified using PEG-THS or uncleavable PEG-cholesterol (PEG-CHOL) (THST/PEG-lipids, 100: 6 molar ratio). The mean vesicle particle size and absolute zeta potential decreased with increasing PEG-THS proportion. When the pH was decreased, the vesicle particle size and calcein release rate increased. The THST vesicles were initially Ca2+-unstable but exhibited significantly improved stability after modification with PEG-THS, especially at PEG-lipid ratios above 6%. Incubation in an acid serum increased the calcein release rate of conventional THST vesicles to 45 +/- 1.98% at 10 min. However, the release rate of the PEG-CHOL vesicles remained low. The calcein release rate of PEG-THS vesicles was between those of conventional and PEG-CHOL-V. Therefore, PEG-THS can protect vesicles in serum and reconstitute their pH sensitivity in acidic conditions. Cleavable PEG-THS can be used in stable pH-sensitive preparations without loss of pH sensitivity. Free calcein and conventional vesicles eliminated from the plasma soon after injection, as well as the half-life (t(1/2)) and area under the curve of PEG-THS-Vencapsulating calcein, were dramatically increased. This phenomenon indicates that the use of PEG-lipid derivatives has gained a favorably long circulation effect in mice.