Spectroscopic studies on the interaction between acridine orange and bile salts

The structure of sodium deoxycholate (NaDC) micellar aggregates has been previously reported to be helical, and two helical models have been proposed for the micellar aggregates of sodium taurodeoxycholate (NaTDC). Here we report NMR and UV-VIS studies on the interaction between acridine orange (AO) and NaDC or NaTDC aqueous micellar solutions. AO is known to aggregate in aqueous solutions. The addition of NaDC or NaTDC causes the breaking of the AO aggregates, although the binding geometry of the two bile salts with AO seems to be slightly different. The cationic dye interacts mainly with the C₁₈ and C,9 methyl groups of the bile salt molecules. This result agrees with one of the two NaTDC helical models and with some of its possible aggregates, and confirms again the helical structure attributed to the NaDC micellar aggregates within the limits of the experimental conditions tested by us.