Buparvaquone Nanostructured Lipid Carrier Development: Physicochemical and In Vitro Leishmanicidal Performances

• Author / Creator

  Monteiro, Lis M.

• Leishmaniases is a group of diseases caused by parasites of the genus Leishmania. The estimated number of deaths from visceral leishmaniases ranges from 20,000 to 50,000 annually. The most common treatment over the past 60 years has been pentavalent antimonials. Besides the doubtful effectiveness, they present several disadvantages such as the need for parenteral administration, large doses, long treatment, severe toxicity and parasite resistance. Buparvaquone (BPQ), a drug used for veterinary treatment of theileriosis, showed promising activity against Leishmania spp. However, due to its low aqueous solubility and bioavailability, it has failed in in vivo tests. The use of nanotechnologies has the potential to overcome these drawbacks due to the following advantages: increase in drug water-solubility, increase in therapeutic efficacy and treatment toxicity reduction. Therefore, the present work aimed the development, optimization, physical-chemical evaluation and in vitro performances of nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) for BPQ encapsulation. The NLC preparation was performed by high pressure homogenization, and surface response and factorial design were applied to formulation optimization. In vitro dissolution profiles were evaluated in phosphate buffer pH 7.4 with tween 80 0.07% w/v or sodium dodecyl sulfate 1.0% w/v and simulated body fluid pH 7.4. Cytotoxicity was evaluated in mouse peritoneal macrophages and leishmanicidal activity in L. infantum amastigotes. Six optimized NCL were prepared and they showed solubility improvement from 1.5-fold to 611-fold when compared with free BPQ, depending on the formulation and medium. Dissolution profiles showed the NLC formulation suitability for BPQ regarding oral administration, the release could reach 83.29% of a 4mg dose in 30 minutes for formulation of 175.1 nm, while the free drug could be dissolved only 2.89% of the same dose after 4 hours. Moreover, formulation of 230.7 nm showed 81.42% of drug release in in phosphate buffer pH 7.4 with dodecyl sulfate 1.0% w/v after 30 minutes, while BPQ did not dissolved. Cytotoxicity assay showed the safety of all formulations. The CC50 values were close to 500 µM, while the IC50 against amastigotes was only 456.5 nM for free BPQ. Developed NLCs showed an increase in IC50 from 2.0 to 3.1-fold when compared to free drug in the in vitro leishmanicidal evaluation. Therefore, the NLC containing BPQ are a promising alternative for the treatment of leishmaniases as oral and parenteral drug dosage forms. Additionally, they have a potential use for lymphatic targeted drug delivery, which can be an innovative approach for this neglected disease.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Buparvaquone
  • Nanostructured Lipid Carrier
  • Leishmaniases
  • Neglected Diseases.

• Graduation date

  Spring 2018

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3GF0NB4Z

• License

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