Steric stabilization of microspheres with grafted polyethylene oxide reduces phagocytosis by rat Kupffer cells in vitro.

Sterically stabilized polyethylene oxide-polystyrene copolymer microspheres, (PS-PEO) and charge stabilized polystyrene (PS) microspheres of similar size (1 micron) were prepared in order to compare their uptake by cultured rat Kupffer cells isolated by centrifugal elutriation. The uptake of the sterically stabilized particles was found to be much less than that for the charge stabilized control. The uptake of microspheres stabilized with covalently grafted PEO was lower or equivalent to that of control microspheres stabilized by the adsorption of the non-ionic PEO-polypropylene oxide (PPO-PEO) surfactant Poloxamer 238 or Methoxy-PEO. Phagocytic uptake by Kupffer cells at low and body temperature (8 degrees C and 37 degrees C) demonstrated that PS-PEO particles showed both low adherence and low metabolic uptake. The adsorption of PEO, as Poloxamer 238, to particles with covalently attached or grafted PEO resulted in a synergistic reduction in uptake that was greater than the individual effects of grafting and adsorption alone (P less than or equal to 0.001). It is suggested that this combination produces a more effective steric barrier on the particle surface with the Poloxamer adsorbing to the surface between the grafted PEO chains. The relevance to drug targeting/carrier systems is discussed.