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

Atherosclerosis (AS) is one of the main causes of cardiovascular disease which might lead to myocardial infarction or stroke and further leads to fatality.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).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-1β and TNF-α were down-regulated after the treatment with IL10-cRGD-Lip in Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated RAW 264.7 cells.the in-vitro results clearly suggest that anti-inflammatory cytokine IL10 could be used for the cure of inflammatory maladies including atherosclerosis.