Effect of the antioxidant phenozan and neuropeptide adrenocorticotropic hormone on the structure of the liquid crystalline state of the lipid bilayer and thickness of the phosphatidylcholine membrane

By the methods of NMR, PMR and EPR spectrometry and X-ray diffaction, the occurrence of polymorphic liquid-crystalline transformations in phosphatidylcholine liposomes from the bovine brain and the influence of phenozan (sterically screened phenol antioxidant) and adrenocorticotropic hormone were shown in the temperature range 25-55 degrees C. Phenozan and the adrenocortcotropic hormone, which have a nootropic activity in vivo, change the phase transition temperatures, promote polymorphic transformations in lipids and increase the disordering of lipid bilayer and the thickness of phosphatidylcholine membranes. We assume that the lipid polymorphysm is a step of information recording and keeping processes in synapse membranes.