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The use of DEHP (diethylhexyl phthalate) is now banned for most applications in Europe; the exception is for blood bags, where its toxicity is overshadowed by its ability to extend the storage life of red blood cells. Another plasticiser, BTHC (butanoyl trihexyl citrate), is used in paediatric blood bags but does not stabilise blood cells as effectively. Interactions between plasticisers and lipids are investigated with a phospholipid, DMPC, to understand the increased stability of blood cells in the presence of DEHP as well as bioaccumulation and identify differences with BTHC. Mixed monolayers of DMPC and DEHP or BTHC were studied on Langmuir troughs where surface pressure/area isotherms can be measured. Neutron reflection measurements were made to determine the composition and structure of these mixed layers. A large amount of plasticiser can be incorporated into a DMPC monolayer but once an upper limit is reached, plasticiser is selectively removed from the interface at high surface pressures. The upper limit is found to occur between 40–60 mol% for DEHP and 20–40 mol% for BTHC. The areas per molecule are also different with DEHP being in the range of 50–100 Å2 and BTHC being 65–120 Å2. Results indicate that BTHC does not fit as well as DEHP in DMPC monolayers which could help explain the differences observed with regards to the stability of blood cells.

Background: During the past few decades, drug delivery system (DDS) has attracted many interests because it could enhance the therapeutic effects of drugs and reduce their side effects. The advent of nanotechnology has promoted the development of nanosized DDSs, which could promote drug cellular uptake as well as prolong the half-life in blood circulation. Novel polymer micelles formed by self-assembly of amphiphilic polymers in aqueous solution have emerged as meaningful nanosystems for controlled drug release due to the reversible destabilization of hydrophobic domains under different conditions. Results: The amphiphilic polymers presented here were composed of cholesterol groups end capped and poly (poly (ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate) (poly (OEGMA)) as tailed segments by the synthesis of cholesterol-based initiator, followed by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) with OEGMA monomer. FT-IR and NMR confirmed the successfully synthesis of products including initiator and polymers as well as the Mw of the polymers were from 33,233 to 89,088 g/mol and their corresponding PDI were from 1.25 to 1.55 by GPC. The average diameter of assembled polymer micelles was in hundreds nanometers demonstrated by DLS, AFM and SEM. The behavior of the amphiphilic polymers as micelles was investigated using pyrene probing to explore their critical micelle concentration (CMC) ranging from 2.53 x 10(-4) to 4.33 x 10(-4) mg/ml, decided by the balance between cholesterol and poly (OEGMA). Besides, the CMC of amphiphilic polymers, the quercetin (QC) feeding ratio and polarity of solvents determined the QC loading ratio maximized reaching 29.2% certified by UV spectrum, together with the corresponding size and stability changes by DLS and Zeta potential, and thermodynamic changes by TGA and DSC. More significantly, cholesterol end-capped polymer micelles were used as nanosized systems for controlled drug release, not only alleviated the cytotoxicity of QC from 8.6 to 49