Molecularly Imprinted Bile Acid Sequestrants: Synthesis and Biological Studies

Novel bile acid sequestrants based on a polyammonium backbone were synthesized using molecular imprinting technique. These imprinted polymer networks were prepared by crosslinking different polymeric amines with crosslinking agents in the presence of sodium cholate as the template. The template molecules were completely removed from the polymer matrices by repeated washings. The bile acid sequestration properties of these polymeric resins were evaluated under both in vitro and in vivo conditions. Adsorption isotherms performed in physiologically relevant media revealed that molecular imprinting led to improvement in bile acid sequestration with about a twofold increase in the K a (association constant). More importantly, hamsters fed with imprinted polymers in their diet excreted more bile acids than the non-imprinted control polymer. These results suggest that molecular imprinting may be potentially an interesting approach to prepare novel polymer therapeutics.