THERMAL-BEHAVIOR AND ELASTIC PROPERTIES OF DIMYRISTOYL PHOSPHATIDYLCHOLINE BILAYERS UNDER THE EFFECT OF PENTOXIFYLLINE

We have investigated the effect on dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine bil ayers of pentoxifylline, a derivative of xanthine by using two optical techniques, quasi-elastic light scattering (QLS) and Fourier transfor m infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The results show that in the presence of pentoxifylline, the bilayer phase transition point is lowered and that the elastic modulus is decreased. The FT-IR results indicate stro ng interactions in the aqueous interface regions of the bilayers. We d iscussed these results comparatively with those obtained from flavonoi d derivatives whose effect was analogous and previously studied.