Polymeric Hydrogels as Technology Platform for Drug Delivery Applications

Hydrogels have become key players in the field of drug delivery owing to their great versatility in terms of composition and adjustability to various administration routes, from parenteral (e.g., intravenous) to non-parenteral (e.g., oral, topical) ones. In addition, based on the envisioned application, the design of bioadhesive or mucoadhesive hydrogels with prolonged residence time in the administration site may be beneficial. For example, hydrogels are used as wound dressings and patches for local and systemic therapy. In a similar way, they can be applied in the vaginal tract for local treatment or in the nasal cavity for a similar goal or, conversely, to target the central nervous system by the nose-to-brain pathway. Overall, hydrogels have demonstrated outstanding capabilities to ensure patient compliance, while achieving long-term therapeutic effects. The present work overviews the most relevant and recent applications of hydrogels in drug delivery with special emphasis on mucosal routes.Fil: Sosnik, Alejandro Dario. Technion - Israel Institute of Technology; IsraelFil: Seremeta, Katia Pamela. Universidad Nacional del Chaco Austral. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas y Aplicadas. Laboratorio de Ingeniería de las Reacciones Químicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste; Argentin

Cryoprotection–lyophilization and physical stabilization of rifampicin-loaded flower-like polymeric micelles

Rifampicin-loaded poly(ε-caprolactone)-b-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(ε-caprolactone) flower-like polymeric micelles display low aqueous physical stability over time and undergo substantial secondary aggregation. To improve their physical stability, the lyoprotection- lyophilization process was thoroughly characterized. The preliminary cryoprotectant performance of mono- and disaccharides (e.g. maltose, glucose), hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) of different molecular weights was assessed in freeze-thawing assays at -20°C, -80°C and -196°C. The size and size distribution of the micelles at the different stages were measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS). A cryoprotectant factor (fc) was determined by taking the ratio between the size immediately after the addition of the cryoprotectant and the size after the preliminary freeze-thawing assay. The benefit of a synergistic cryoprotection by means of saccharide/ PEG mixtures was also assessed. Glucose (1 : 20), maltose (1 : 20), HPβCD (1 : 5) and glucose or maltose mixtures with PEG3350 (1 : 20) (copolymer:cryoprotectant weight ratio) were the most effective systems to protect 1 per cent micellar systems. Conversely, only HPβCD (1 : 5) cryoprotected more concentrated drug-loaded micelles (4% and 6%). Then, those micelle/ cryoprotectant systems that displayed fc values smaller than 2 were freeze-dried. The morphology of freeze-dried powders was characterized by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy and the residual water content analysed by the Karl Fisher method. The HPβCD-added lyophilisates were brittle porous cakes (residual water was between 0.8% and 3%), easily redispersable in water to form transparent systems with a minimal increase in the micellar size, as determined by DLS.Fil: Moretton, Marcela Analía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Chiappetta, Diego Andrés. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sosnik, Alejandro Dario. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Nanomedicine in Latin America

This special issue of Journal of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering includes articles from Latin American researchers that work in an emerging discipline at the interface of biomaterials science, nanotechnology and therapeutics called Nanomedicine and that comprises the use of different mono, bi and three-dimensional nano-objects (e.g., nanoplates, nanoparticles, nanotubes, etc.) to address different medical problemsFil: Abraham, Gustavo Abel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico - CONICET - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigación en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales (i); Argentina;Fil: Romero, Eder Lilia. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología. Laboratorio de Diseño de Estrategias de Targeting de Drogas; Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; Argentina;Fil: Sosnik, Alejandro Dario. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; Argentina

Chitosan-g-oligo(epsilon-caprolactone) polymeric micelles: microwave-assisted synthesis and physicochemical and cytocompatibility characterization

With the aim to produce mucoadhesive polymeric micelles for drug administration by mucosal routes, chitosan-g-oligo(epsilon-caprolactone) copolymers were synthesized by the microwave-assisted ring-opening polymerization of epsilon-caprolactone using chitosan as the macroinitiator and methanesulfonic acid as the solvent, catalyst and protecting group of the amine moieties. The reaction was conducted under very mild conditions and was completed within 10 min with a monomer conversion above 90%. The grafting of oligo(epsilon-caprolactone) blocks to the free hydroxyl groups of chitosan was confirmed by ATR/FT-IR, 1H- and 13C-NMR, WAXD and thermal analysis (TGA/DSC). The molecular weight of the synthetic hybrid copolymers was determined by GPC and MALDI-ToF mass spectrometry. Polymeric micelles obtained by the solvent diffusion/evaporation method showed a spherical shape (TEM and AFM) with sizes between 111 and 154 nm and highly positive zeta potential (>+50 mV) (DLS). In addition, they displayed good cell compatibility in the human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial line, A549, and were readily up-taken by the cervical cancer cell line, HeLa. Results from the encapsulation of the antituberculosis drug, rifampicin, showed that the micelles had better performance than other nanocarriers previously investigated (e.g., cyclodextrins). Moreover, the micelles conserved the mucoadhesiveness displayed by pristine chitosan and are expected to transiently open tight cell junctions and lead to more prolonged residence times in mucosal tissues and greater drug bioavailability.Fil: Glisoni, Romina Julieta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Nanobiotecnología. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Nanobiotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Quintana Lazópulos, Silvina Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco; ArgentinaFil: Molina, María. Freie Universität Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Calderon, Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Freie Universität Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Moglioni, Albertina Gladys. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Química y Metabolismo del Fármaco; ArgentinaFil: Sosnik, Alejandro Dario. Technion - Israel Institute of Technology; Israel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Oral Pharmacokinetics of a Chitosan-Based Nano- Drug Delivery System of Interferon Alpha

Abstract: Interferon alpha (IFN) is a protein drug used to treat viral infections and cancer diseases. Dueto its poor stability in the gastrointestinal tract, only parenteral administration ensures bioavailability,which is associated with severe side eects. We hypothesized that the nanoencapsulation ofIFN within nanoparticles of the mucoadhesive polysaccharide chitosan would improve theoral bioavailability of this drug. In this work, we produced IFN-loaded chitosan nanoparticlesby the ionotropic gelation method. Their hydrodynamic diameter, polydispersity index andconcentration were characterized by dynamic light scattering and nanoparticle tracking analysis.After confirming their good cell compatibility in Caco-2 and WISH cells, the permeability ofunmodified and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-modified (PEGylated) nanoparticles was measured inmonoculture (Caco-2) and co-culture (Caco-2/HT29-MTX) cell monolayers. Results indicated thatthe nanoparticles cross the intestinal epithelium mainly by the paracellular route. Finally, the studyof the oral pharmacokinetics of nanoencapsulated IFN in BalbC mice revealed two maxima andarea-under-the-curve of 56.9 pg*h/mL.Fil: Imperiale, Julieta Celeste. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Farmacológicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Investigaciones Farmacológicas; ArgentinaFil: Schlachet, Inbar. Technion - Israel Institute of Technology; IsraelFil: Lewicki, Marianela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; ArgentinaFil: Sosnik, Alejandro Dario. Technion - Israel Institute of Technology; IsraelFil: Biglione, Mirna Marcela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Retrovirus y Sida; Argentin

Chitosan-Grafted Copolymers and Chitosan-Ligand Conjugates as Matrices for Pulmonary Drug Delivery

Recently, much attention has been given to pulmonary drug delivery by means of nanosized systems to treat both local and systemic diseases. Among the differentmaterials used for the production of nanocarriers, chitosan enjoys high popularity due to its inherent characteristics such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, and mucoadhesion, among others. Through the modification of chitosan chemical structure, either by the addition of new chemical groups or by the functionalization with ligands, it is possible to obtain derivatives with advantageous and specific characteristics for pulmonary administration. In this paper, we discuss the advantages of using chitosan for nanotechnology-based pulmonary delivery of drugs and summarize the most recent and promising modifications performed to the chitosan molecule in order to improve its characteristics.Fil: Andrade, Fernanda. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: Goycoolea, Francisco. Westfalische Wilhelms Universitat; AlemaniaFil: Chiappetta, Diego Andrés. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; ArgentinaFil: Das Neves, José. Universidad de Porto; PortugalFil: Sosnik, Alejandro Dario. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; ArgentinaFil: Sarmento, Bruno. Universidad de Porto; Portugal. Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde-Norte; Portuga

Antiviral activity against the hepatitis C virus (HCV) of 1-indanone thiosemicarbazones and their inclusion complexes with hydroxypropyl-β- cyclodextrin

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of acute and chronic hepatitis in humans. Approximately 5% of the infected people die from cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. The current standard therapy comprises a combination of pegylated-interferon alpha and ribavirin. Due to the relatively low effectiveness, the prohibitive costs and the extensive side effects of the treatment, an intense research for new direct-acting anti-HCV agents is taking place. Furthermore, NS3 protease inhibitors recently introduced into the market are not effective against all HCV subgenotypes. Thiosemicarbazones (TSCs) have shown antiviral activity against a wide range of DNA and RNA viruses. However, their extremely low aqueous solubility and high self-aggregation tendency often preclude their reliable biological evaluation in vitro. In this work, we investigated and compared for the first time the anti-HCV activity of two 1-indanone TSCs, namely 5,6-dimethoxy-1-indanone TSC and 5,6-dimethoxy-1- indanone N4-allyl TSC, and their inclusion complexes with hydroxypropyl-β- cyclodextrin (HPβ-CD) in Huh-7.5 cells containing the full-length and the subgenomic subgenotype 1b HCV replicon system. Studies of physical stability in culture medium showed that free TSCs precipitated rapidly and formed submicron aggregates. Conversely, TSC complexation with HPβ-CD led to more stable systems with minimal size growth and drug concentration loss. More importantly, both TSCs and their inclusion complexes displayed a potent suppression of the HCV replication in both cell lines with no cytotoxic effects. The mechanism likely involves the inhibition of non-structural proteins of the virus. In addition, findings suggested that the cyclodextrin released the drug to the culture medium over time. This platform could be exploited for the study of the drug toxicity and pharmacokinetics animal models.Fil: Glisoni, Romina Julieta. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cuestas, María Luján. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Mathet, Veronica Lidia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Microbiología. Área Virología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Oubiña, Jose Raul. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Microbiología. Área Virología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Moglioni, Albertina Gladys. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sosnik, Alejandro Dario. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Hydrolyzed Galactomannan-Modified Nanoparticles and Flower-Like Polymeric Micelles for the Active Targeting of Rifampicin to Macrophages

Inhalable nanocarriers that are uptaken by macrophages represent an appealing approach for the targeting of antibiotics to the tuberculosis reservoir. In the present work, we report on the development of rifampicin (RIF)-loaded nanoparticles and flower-like polymeric micelles surface-modified with hydrolyzed galatomannan (GalM-h), a polysaccharide of mannose and galactose, two sugars that are recognized by lectin-like receptors. Initially, pure or GalM-h-associated chitosan nanoparticles (NPs) were produced by ionotropic gelation. Despite the composition, NPs displayed positive zeta potential values between +18.0 and +24.5 mV and a size ranging between 263 and 340 nm. In addition, RIF payloads were approximately 1.0% w/w. To increase the encapsulation efficiency, a more complex nanocarrier based on poly(epsilon-caprolactone)-b-poly(ethylene-glycol)-b-poly(epsilon-caprolactone) flower-like polymeric micelles (PMs) coated with chitosan or GalM-h/chitosan were engineered. These polymeric micelles displayed a bimodal size distribution with a positive zeta potential between +6.7 and +8.1 mV. More importantly, the drug encapsulation capacity was increased 12.9-fold with respect to the NPs. An agglutination assay with concanavalin A confirmed the presence of GalM-h on the surface. Qualitative uptake studies by fluorescence microscopy revealed that GalM-h-modified systems were taken-up by RAW 264.7 murine macrophages. Finally, the intracellular/cell associated levels of RIF following the incubation of cells with free or encapsulated drug indicated that while chitosan hinders the uptake, GalM-h leads to a significant increase of the intracellular concentration.Fil: Moretton, Marcela Analía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; Argentina;Fil: Chiappetta, Diego Andrés. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; Argentina;Fil: Andrade, Fernanda. Universidad de Porto; Portugal;Fil: Das Neves, José. Universidad de Porto; Portugal; Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde-Norte. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Health Sciences Research Center; Portugal;Fil: Ferreira, Domingos. Universidad de Porto; Portugal;Fil: Sarmento, Bruno. Universidad de Porto; Portugal; Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde-Norte. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Health Sciences Research Center; Portugal;Fil: Sosnik, Alejandro Dario. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay; Argentina

Nanotechnology contributions to the pharmacotherapy of pediatric HIV: a dual scientific and ethical challenge and a still pending agenda

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is the most deadly infectious disease of our times. It currently affects more than 40 million people worldwide [101]. HIV is a disease of poverty as more than 80% of the patients live in developing nations and 60% in the sub-Saharan region (sSR) of Africa. Children represent approximately 6% of the infected population, though 15% of the new infections and the 15% of the nearly 2 million annual deaths. In addition, 15 million children have been orphaned due to AIDS [102]; 11.6 millions only in the sSR. Pediatric HIV has been almost eradicated in developed countries by preventing the mother-to-child-transmission (MTCT) and replacing natural delivery by caesarean. Conversely, in the developing world, 1000 new cases are registered every day. Only 10% of the HIV-positive children have appropriate access to medication, this extent decreasing dramatically to less than 2% in the sSR [103]. Thus, while HIV is gradually becoming a chronic and manageable disease in Europe and North America owing to the high activity antiretroviral therapy (HAART) or cocktail, most HIV-infected children in Africa are unfortunately sentenced to die before the two years of age.Fil: Sosnik, Alejandro Dario. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Encapsulation of the Antimicrobial and Immunomodulator Agent Nitazoxanide Within Polymeric Micelles

Nitazoxanide (NTZ) is a highly hydrophobic nitrothiazolyl-salicylamide that displays antimicrobial activity against a variety of parasites, anaerobic bacteria and viruses. More recently, its effectiveness in the pharmacotherapy of chronic hepatitis, the leading cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), has been reported. On the other hand, the extremely low aqueous solubility of the drug challenges its administration by different routes. The present work explored for the first time the encapsulation of NTZ within pristine, lactosylated and mixed poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide) (PEO-PPO) polymeric micelles (PMs) of different architectures, molecular weights and hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) as a strategy to improve its aqueous solubility and to potentially target it to the liver parenchyma. The solubility was increased up to 609 times. The drug encapsulation modified the selfaggregation pattern of the different amphiphiles, resulting in a sharp growth of the micellar size. The encapsulation capacity of the lactosylated derivatives was smaller than that of the pristine counterparts, though the development of mixed PMs that combine a highly hydrophilic lactosylated amphiphile (e.g., poloxamer F127 or poloxamine T1107) that forms the micellar template and a more hydrophobic unmodified poloxamine (T904) that increases the hydrophobicity of the core resulted in the synergistic encapsulation of the drug and a substantial increase of the physical stability over time. Overall findings confirmed the extremely great versatility of the poloxamer/poloxamine mixed self-assembly systems as Trojan nanocarriers for the encapsulation of NTZ towards its targeting to the liver.Fil: Glisoni, Romina Julieta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Nanobiotecnología. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Nanobiotecnología; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; ArgentinaFil: Sosnik, Alejandro Dario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Nanobiotecnología. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Nanobiotecnología; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentin