Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Evaluation of the Photostability and Photodynamic Efficacy of Rose Bengal Loaded in Multivesicular Liposomes

Maha Fadel¹ , Kawser Kassab²

¹Department of Medical Applications of Laser, Pharmaceutical Technology Unit; ²Cell Photosensitization and Photobiology Lab, National Institute of Laser Enhanced Sciences, Cairo University, 12613- Giza, Egypt.

For correspondence:- Maha Fadel Email: mahafmali@hotmail.com Tel:+20101649550

Received: 21 October 2010 Accepted: 23 April 2011 Published: 24 June 2011

Citation: Fadel M, Kassab K. Evaluation of the Photostability and Photodynamic Efficacy of Rose Bengal Loaded in Multivesicular Liposomes. Trop J Pharm Res 2011; 10(3):289-297 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v10i3.5

© 2011 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: Rose Bengal (RB) is a potential photodynamic sensitizer in anticancer therapy. The purpose of this study was to prepare multivesicular liposomes (MVL) loaded with RB to enhance its photostability and intracellulaer photodynamic efficacy.

Methods: Four MVL-RB formulations were prepared by reverse phase evaporation technique using a double emulsion method. The photostability of RB in phosphate buffer and in MVL was studied by monitoring the change in its absorption spectra at different time points following photoirradiation at 550 nm. Photodynamic cytotoxicity, intracellular uptake and localization of the most photostable MVL-RB were studied on baby hamster kidney fibroblasts to evaluate its photodynamic efficacy, compared with free RB.

Results: MVL-RB demonstrated significantly slower photodegradation rates with 10-fold extended half-life compared with free RB in buffer (p < 0.05). The degradation followed pseudo first order kinetics. Photodynamic cytotoxicity studies revealed that MVL-RB increased cell mortality by 1.6 - 2.5-fold, compared to free RB, and this could be attributed to its enhanced intracellular uptake and different localization pattern in the cell, in addition to increased photostability.

Conclusion: Loading RB in MVL is a promising approach to improve the photodynamic efficacy of RB, by enhancing its photostability and delivery into cells.

Keywords: Rose Bengal, Photodynamic therapy, Multivesicular liposomes, Photostability, Phototoxicity