As a global health problem, liver fibrosis still does not have approved treatment. It was proved that N-(3,4,5-trichlorophenyl)-2(3-nitrobenzenesulfonamide) benzamide (IMB16-4) has anti-hepatic fibrosis activity. However, IMB16-4 displays poor water solubility and poor bioavailability. We are devoted to developing biodegraded liposome-coated polymeric nanoparticles (LNPs) as IMB16-4 delivery systems for improving aqueous solubility, cellular uptake, and anti-fibrotic effects. The physical states of IMB16-4-LNPs were analyzed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The results show that IMB16-4-LNPs increased the drug loading compared to liposomes and enhanced cellular uptake behavior compared with IMB16-4-NPs. In addition, IMB16-4-LNPs could repress the expression of hepatic fibrogenesis-associated proteins, indicating that IMB16-4-LNPs exhibited evident anti-fibrotic effects.
Keywords: IMB16-4; cell uptake; hepatic stellate cells; liposome-coated polymeric nanoparticles; liver fibrosis.