A study of salt effects on the complexation between β-cyclodextrins and bile salts based on the Hofmeister series

The Hofmeister series is the ranking of ions according to their ability to strengthen (kosmotropic ions) or weaken (chaotropic ions) hydrophobic interactions. Such ions are therefore expected to affect the strength of cyclodextrin (CD) inclusion complexes and may thereby affect the release of CD bound drug molecules. The influence of Hofmeister ions on the binding constants of complexes between CDs (beta-CD and hydroxypropylated beta-CD) and bile salts (glycocholate and glycochenodeoxycholate) were examined by isothermal titration calorimetry. The chaotropic anions tended to weaken these inclusion complexes. Conversely, kosmotropic ions increased the binding strength and this effect scaled with the buried hydrophobic surface area. Both effects are relatively weak at physiological ion concentrations and may be neglected for most pharmaceutical purposes.