[Investigation of the effects of polysorbate non-ionic surfactants on biological membranes using human erythrocytes as a model]

ABSTRACT

Surfactants are widely used as detergents, emulsifiers, solubilizers and in recent years as penetration enhancers. In the present study, the hemolytic effects of four non-ionic surfactants from the polysorbate Tween® series including Tween® 20, 40, 60 and 80 were investigated on human red blood cells as an indication of their membrane disrupting potentials. The results showed that all four surfactants were hemolytic to different extents such that the maximum hemolysis occurred at 1.6, 40, 80 and 8G mM by Tween® 20, 40, 60 and 80 respectively. This indicates that Tween® 20 is much more damaging to biological membranes than the other three surfactants. The effect of temperature on hemolysis induced by surfactants was also examined, and it was found that an increase in temperature from 25 to 37degreeC resulted in a significant increase in hemolysis. When 2 mM Tween® 80 was added to the solution of Tween® the hemolysis reduced from 75% to about 1% which shows a mitigating effect for Tween® 80 on the hemolysis caused by Tween®20