LECITHIN MEMBRANES AS BIOLOGICAL MODELS FOR EVALUATING DRUG RELEASE

Introduction. The most popular and affordable method for assessing the degree of drug release (DR) is the method of dialysis through a semiper-meable membrane, the effectiveness of which is determined by the choice of a suitable membrane. With various positive aspects of the use of natu-ral and synthetic membranes, their use has a number of limitations, the main of which for natural membranes are differences in lipid composition de-pending on the type of animal and even skin areas, for synthetic membranes – the exclusion of the influence of DR interaction processes. Considering that phospholipids and cholesterol form the basis of cell membranes, and lecithin is a similar combined compound, it seems possible to create model membranes based on lecithin. The aim of the study was to create lecithin membranes similar in functional properties to natural membranes, but with optimal physico-chemical parameters, simplicity and accessibility of manufacture, and a comparative assessment of the degree of release of acidic polysaccharides (beet pec-tin, sodium alginate) through lecithin membranes. Material and methods. Lecithin membranes are obtained by impregnating dense fine-porous paper filters "blue ribbon" with a diameter of 5.0–20.0 cm in a 6.3% solution of lecithin in 95% ethanol for 48 hours. Results. Comparable results of determining the reduced degree of dialysis of polysaccharides through lecithin membranes in comparison with the pa-rietal sheet of the rat peritoneum, the use of isotonic sodium chloride solution and physiological temperature make it possible to simulate the condi-tions as much as possible in vivo in the study of the bioavailability of DR. Conclusion. Lecithin membranes are characterized by high porosity, minimal thickness, resistance to decomposition processes, uniformity of com-position and properties, stability of lipid composition, the possibility of varying surface area, volumes of dialyzable solutions, manufacture as needed or for future use, ease of manufacture, shelf life at room temperature, availability and low consumption of materials and reagents. This does not require slaughtering animals and laborious separation of the membrane layer from the muscle layer, as well as cleaning.