Studies on the interaction of tiamulin with the phospholipids in model membranes and with microsomes

The drug tiamulin interacts with phospholipid membranes mainly in a nonelectrostatic way. At pH-values where the drug possesses a net positive charge only small binding is observed. In the presence of cholesterol tiamulin is excluded from the membranes. The interaction of tiamulin with membranes cannot be explained by a simple partitioning but is governed by structural rearrangements of the lipid phase. At low drug concentrations we observe sigmoidal binding characteristics in the rigid as well as in the fluid state up to a level of about 2-3 mol drug bound per 1000 mol phospholipid. The range in which this cooperative interaction occurs can be compared with the drug concentration in the erythrocyte membrane which protects from hypotonic lysis. Further addition of tiamulin to the rigid membrane leads to fluidization. Saturation of the membranes with tiamulin is completely in parallel to their fluidization. The relevance of the cooperative interaction at low drug concentration and of the subsequent fluidization at elevated concentration for the microsomal membrane is discussed.