Optimisation of glutathione conjugation to liposomes quantified with a validated HPLC assay

Glutathione (GSH) grafted onto nanoliposomes (GSH-liposomes) have the potential to enhance drug delivery into the brain. GSH is known to be an unstable tripeptide, however, despite widespread use to promote active transport its stability has been largely ignored to date. Therefore this study focuses on the optimisation of GSH conjugation with liposomes, supported with a validated HPLC assay for GSH. An isocratic stability-indicating HPLC assay of GSH was developed after derivatisation of GSH with 5,5′-dithio-bis-2-nitrobenzoic acid and applied for efficient conjugation of GSH to DSPE-PEG2000-maleimide lipid, either in solution or in preformed liposomes (4% molar ratio) at pH 7.4. The conjugation rate was monitored by the HPLC assay to optimise the conjugation conditions, including GSH concentration, GSH:lipid ratio, reaction time, temperature and medium. The physiochemical properties of the resulting GSH-liposomes and their GSH densities were characterised. The HPLC method was linear in the range of 0.05–50 µg/ml, highly sensitive (limit of quantification 50 ng/ml), and accurate (98–102% recoveries) with less than 4% intra-day and inter-day variability. Interestingly, enhanced GSH stability was observed at higher GSH concentrations ≥2 mg/ml and mass spectroscopy confirmed that GSH degradation occurred predominantly by oxidation. Both the proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectra and HPLC analysis of GSH concentrations confirmed the formation of GSH-PEG-DSPE conjugate. Under the optimal conditions, complete conjugation was attained either by post-insertion or direct conjugation methods with the resulting GSH-liposomes attaining a GSH density of 4% with similar size (120 nm) and zeta potential (−26.7 ± 0.9 mV or −29.8 ± 1.5 mV). The study provides useful information on GSH stability for the optimisation of its conjugation in liposomal formulation.