Anti-inflammatory cytokine IL10 loaded cRGD liposomes for the targeted treatment of atherosclerosis.

AIM: Atherosclerosis (AS) is one of the main causes of cardiovascular disease which might lead to myocardial infarction or stroke and further leads to fatality. METHOD: In this study, we have designed an anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL10) delivery system to effectively alleviate the inflammation of atherosclerosis plaque. The targeted delivery of IL10 to the atherosclerotic plaques was achieved by cRGD conjugated liposomes (IL10-cRGD-Lip). RESULTS: The IL10-cRGD-Lip of size 179.4 ± 10.91 nm having PDI 0.14 ± 0.04 with a surface charge of +18.34 ± 1.36 mV was prepared. The in-vitro analysis clearly suggests that IL10-cRGD-Lip sustains the release of IL10 and could significantly reduce ROS and NO. The immuno-staining results revealed that IL-1ß and TNF-α were down-regulated after the treatment with IL10-cRGD-Lip in Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. CONCLUSION: the in-vitro results clearly suggest that anti-inflammatory cytokine IL10 could be used for the cure of inflammatory maladies including atherosclerosis.