Electrospun amphiphilic nanofibers for the in situ preparation and delivery of drug-loaded liposomes

Abstract

The physical stability is crucial in formulating liposomes for drug delivery applications. The objective of the present study was to develop and evaluate the electrospun amphiphilic nanofibers intended for the templates and delivery of drug-loaded liposomes. This approach exploits the hydration of phospholipids deposited on electrospun nanofibers for the formation of liposomes, and the strategy was recently introduced in the literature for non-pharmaceutical applications. Electrospinning of phosphatidylcholine (PC) with polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) using ethanol as a solvent was found to be successful in fabricating drug-loaded amphiphilic composite nanofibers. According to the optical microscopy results, the immediate hydration of phospholipids deposited on the amphiphilic nanofibers occurred within few seconds resulting in the formation of liposomes in water. The liposomes appeared to aggregate more readily in the concentrated solutions than in the diluted solutions. Rhodamine-labelling together with fluorescence microscopy were proved useful techniques to illustrate the formation of liposomes. HPLC analysis indicated that the drug entrapment efficiency varied when different chloramphenicol (CAM) concentrations were used. In conclusion, it is possible to prepare drug-loaded liposomes in situ using the hydration of phospholipids deposited on the electrospun amphiphilic nanofibers. The present nanotechnology self-assembly approach opens up new options for the fabrication, stabilization and delivery of drug-loaded liposomes.