Release of Amphotericin B from Delivery Systems and its Action Against Fungal and Mammalian Cells

Abstract

Spectroscopic studies of four amphotericin B (AmB) lipid preparations—small negatively charged unilamellar vesicles “AmBisome”, positively charged oligolamellar liposomes “Ampholiposomes”, AmB Lipid Complex “L-AmpB33”—and AmB association with γ cyclodextrin demonstrated that the composition of drug delivery system directly influences AmB organization. The aggregation state and release in external medium of AmB was monitored by circular dichroism and UV-visible absorption. AmB short-term activity against Candida albicans (K⁺ leakage) was found to be correlated with the amount of free AmB released from lipid preparations. These data seem to indicate that lipid composition influences anti-Candida albicans activity, by modulation of AmB binding to lipids.

Key Words:

• Amphotericin B
• antifungal activity
• Candida albicans
• delivery systems
• liposomes
• release