Polarized light microscopy study on the effect of chlorpromazine concentration on membrane bilayer formation
Abstract
Chlorpromazine (CPZ), a cationic, amphiphilic phenothiazine derivative widely used as an antipsychotic drug has been extensively studied for its various effects on biological and artificial model membranes. We report here our study on how CPZ concentration affects the bilayer formation of a lecithin-water lyotropic system. The lecithin-water (control) system exhibited textures characteristic of the lamellar liquid crystalline phase. This phase was found to persist in systems with CPZ concentration equal to or less than 20% by weight of that of the control system, as evidenced by the textures formed by the systems under the polarizing microscope. However, for the system containing 25% CPZ, no textures were seen, suggesting that the bilayer configuration of the lecithin-water system is already destroyed.