Tethering of Chemotherapeutic Drug/Imaging Agent to Bile Acid-Phospholipid Increases the Efficacy and Bioavailability with Reduced Hepatotoxicity

Abstract

Weakly basic drugs display poor solubility and tend to precipitate in the stomach’s acidic environment causing reduced oral bioavailability. Tracing of these orally delivered therapeutic agents using molecular probes is challenged due to their poor absorption in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Therefore, we designed a gastric pH stable bile acid derived amphiphile where Tamoxifen (as a model anticancer drug) is conjugated to lithocholic acid derived phospholipid (LCA-Tam-PC). In vitro studies suggested the selective nature of LCA-Tam-PC for cancer cells over normal cells as compared to the parent drug. Fluorescent labeled version of the conjugate (LCA-Tam-NBD-PC) displayed an increased intracellular uptake compared to Tamoxifen. We then investigated the antitumor potential, toxicity, and median survival in 4T1 tumor bearing BALB/c mice upon LCA-Tam-PC treatment. Our studies confirmed a significant reduction in the tumor volume, tumor weight, and reduced hepatotoxicity with a significant increase in median survival on LCA-Tam-PC treatment as compared to the parent drug. Pharmacokinetic and biodistribution studies using LCA-Tam-NBD-PC witnessed the enhanced gut absorption, blood circulation, and tumor site accumulation of phospholipid–drug conjugate leading to improved antitumor activity. Therefore, our studies revealed that conjugation of chemotherapeutic/imaging agents to bile acid phospholipid can provide a new platform for oral delivery and tracing of chemotherapeutic drugs.