title: Microviscosity in lecithin liposomes: effect of nicotinic acid.
abstract: We have studied the effect of nicotinic acid, a drug commonly used as a vasodilatory agent and also for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, on the fluidity profile of liposomes of egg lecithin and dipalmitoyl lecithin, using a fluorescent polarization probe. In both cases the drug decreases the membrane fluidity and for cholesterol-probed liposomes, it disrupts the "intermediate fluid condition" induced by cholesterol. The drug also affects the activation energy for diffusion in the hydrophobic region of the liposomes.
authors: Department of Physics and Chemistry, Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India.
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Bhattacharyya
authors: B B
authors: BB
authors: Bhowmik
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Nandy
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D004058:Diffusion; D005454:Fluorescence Polarization; D008081:Liposomes; D008560:Membrane Fluidity / Q000187:drug effects; D009525:Niacin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D008081:Liposomes; D010713:Phosphatidylcholines; D009525:Niacin