Cholate-induced disruption of calcitonin-loaded liposomes: formation of trypsin-resistant lipid-calcitonin-cholate complexes.

Purpose: The work was performed to obtain a better understanding why the oral administration of calcitonin (CT)-loaded liposomes to rats results in a hypocalcemia, while liposomes are normally disrupted in the gastro-intestinal tract and cannot protect the hormone from enzymatic digestion.
Methods: In vitro comparisons between the stability of calcein and CT-loaded liposomes in the presence of cholate solutions led to an interpretation of the results observed. By means of gel filtration, turbidimetry, and fluorescence measurements, the interactions between CT and lipids were studied after sonicated liposomes had been broken down by cholate.
Results: Experiments showed that CT in the external medium of a liposome suspension had no effect on the vesicles. Gel filtration of cholate-treated liposomes loaded with calcein and CT resulted in a total separation of calcein from the lipid fraction for detergent concentrations higher than 4 mM. However, 50% of the CT was reencapsulated even when the cholate-to-phospholipid molar ratio was increased up to 100. Incubation of cholate-solubilized liposomes with 1% trypsin resulted in a partial CT-breakdown.
Conclusions: These results strongly suggest that during membrane solubilization by cholate, lipid-CT complexes are formed which retain most of the CT initially embedded in the liposomal membrane, and which offer some protection to CT under the action of trypsin. The existence of these complexes could be one of the reasons for the reported hypocalcemia in rats after oral administration of CT-loaded liposomes.