Effect of surfactant monomers on chloramphenicol association to an albumin-lecithin complex: a model for modified drug absorption.

The binding of chloramphenicol to an albumin-lecithin complex in the presence or absence of premicellar concentrations of both ionic and non-ionic surfactants has been examined. Long chain, strong ionic detergents, such as sodium dodecyl sulphate or cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, severely perturb protein structure and eventually allow full separation of the complex into lecithin and albumin-detergent complexes. The dissociation process is reversible upon the removal of the detergent by exhaustive dialysis. After the splitting of the complex, the amount of antibiotic associated with the lipid-protein mixture increases. Structural alteration of the albumin-lecithin complex and the increase in the binding of chloramphenicol have an effect on the transfer rate of this antibiotic across an artificial barrier consisting of an aqueous dispersion of the same complex, as observed in a model system. It is suggested that a reversible alteration in membrane structure, and consequently in membrane permeability, might be easily effected, at the molecular level, through a reversible dissociation of structural lipoproteins into their components, operated by premicellar concentrations of ionic surfactants. This represents a tentative picture of the possible events taking place within the membrane and modifying the absorption rate of a drug, when it is associated with surfactants in a pharmaceutical preparation.