Bacterial removal using liposomes and an anionic adsorber

Extracorporeal blood purification techniques using magnetic beads, which physically remove bacteria, fungi, viruses, and cytokines (disease agents) from the blood causing sepsis, have been studied. However, magnetic bead influx, which causes hemolysis and cytotoxicity, is an important issue. This study proposed a novel method for removing Escherichia coli from the blood using liposomes with high biocompatibility. To realize this method, a pegylated cationic liposome conjugated with antibodies (PCLA) that can simultaneously adsorb disease agents with the conjugated liposome antibodies and adhere to electrostatic absorbers was developed. E. coli was successfully adsorbed by PCLA in phosphate-buffered saline and electrostatically removed with a high removal efficiency of the antigen–antibody reaction (approximately 100 %). The removal efficiency of the antigen–antibody reaction in filtered bovine blood was approximately 50 %, demonstrating E. coli removal in the blood using the same method. Results suggested that this method can remove various disease agents from the blood by changing the antibody type.