Interaction of Antimalarial Agent Artemisinin with Cyclodextrins

Abstract

To obtain an effective solution of the poorly water soluble antimalarial agent artemisinin, the use of several kinds of cyclodextrins (CDs) as solubilizers was examined. The following CDs were used in this study: α-CD, β-CD, γ-CD as parent CDs, 2-hydroxypropyl-β-CD (HP-β-CD), sulfobutyl ether β-CD (SBE7-β-CD), heptakis (2,6-di-O-methyl)-β-CD (DM-β-CD), 2,3,6-partially methylated-β-CD (PM-β-CD) as modified CDs, and glucosyl-β-CD (G1-β-CD), and maltosyl-β-CD (G2-β-CD) as branched CDs. The solubility curves of artemisinin with CDs can all be classified as type A_L. The apparent stability constants for artemisinin-parent CD complexes increased in the order of α- < γ- ≤ β-CD. The constants for artemisinin-β-CD derivative (and β-CD) complexes increased in the order of G2-β-CD ≅ G1-β-CD cong; PM-β-CD ≅ β-CD < HP-β-CD < SBE7-β-CD < DM-β-CD. These results suggest that the addition of CDs enables the solubilization of artemisinin.