Modeling of the In Vitro Release Kinetics of Sonosensitive Targeted Liposomes

Targeted liposomes triggered by ultrasound are a promising drug delivery system as they potentially improve the clinical outcomes of chemotherapy while reducing associated side effects. In this work, a comprehensive model fitting was performed for a large dataset of liposomal release profiles with seven targeting moieties (albumin, cRGD, estrone, hyaluronic acid, Herceptin, lactobionic acid, and transferrin) in addition to the control liposomes under ultrasound release protocols. Two levels of ultrasound frequencies were tested: low frequency (20 kHz) at 6.2, 9, and 10 mW/cm2 as well as high frequencies (1.07 MHz and 3 MHz) at 10.5 and 173 W/cm2. At a low frequency, Hixson–Crowell, Korsmeyer–Peppas, Gompertz, Weibull, and Lu–Hagen showed good fits to our release profiles at all three power densities. At high frequencies, the former three models reflected the best fit. These models will aid in predicting drug release profiles for future in vitro studies.