New IMB16-4 Nanoparticles Improved Oral Bioavailability and Enhanced Anti-Hepatic Fibrosis on Rats

Liver fibrosis is challenging to treat because of the lack of effective agents worldwide. Recently, we have developed a novel compound, N-(3,4,5-trichlorophenyl)-2(3-nitrobenzenesulfonamido) benzamide referred to as IMB16-4. However, its poor aqueous solubility and poor oral bioavailability obstruct the drug discovery programs. To increase the dissolution, improve the oral bioavailability and enhance the antifibrotic activity of IMB16-4, PVPK30 was selected to establish the IMB16-4 nanoparticles. Drug release behavior, oral bioavailability, and anti-hepatic fibrosis effects of IMB16-4 nanoparticles were evaluated. The results showed that IMB16-4 nanoparticles greatly increased the dissolution rate of IMB16-4. The oral bioavailability of IMB16-4 nanoparticles was improved 26-fold compared with that of pure IMB16-4. In bile duct ligation rats, IMB16-4 nanoparticles significantly repressed hepatic fibrogenesis and improved the liver function. These findings indicate that IMB16-4 nanoparticles will provide information to expand a novel anti-hepatic fibrosis agent.

HobPre: accurate prediction of human oral bioavailability for small molecules

Human oral bioavailability (HOB) is a key factor in determining the fate of new drugs in clinical trials. HOB is conventionally measured using expensive and time-consuming experimental tests. The use of computational models to evaluate HOB before the synthesis of new drugs will be beneficial to the drug development process. In this study, a total of 1588 drug molecules with HOB data were collected from the literature for the development of a classifying model that uses the consensus predictions of five random forest models. The consensus model shows excellent prediction accuracies on two independent test sets with two cutoffs of 20% and 50% for classification of molecules. The analysis of the importance of the input variables allowed the identification of the main molecular descriptors that affect the HOB class value. The model is available as a web server at www.icdrug.com/ICDrug/ADMET for quick assessment of oral bioavailability for small molecules. The results from this study provide an accurate and easy-to-use tool for screening of drug candidates based on HOB, which may be used to reduce the risk of failure in late stage of drug development. Graphical Abstract

Bioavailability Enhancement of Vitamin E TPGS Coated Liposomes of Nintedanib Esylate Formulation Developed Using Quality by Design Approach

PurposeNintedanib esylate (NE) is a kinase inhibitor designated for the cure of non-small cell lung cancer suffers from first-pass metabolism which resulted in low oral bioavailability (~4.7%). The intent of this exploration was to increase the oral bioavailability of NE by means of TPGS coated liposomes. MethodsThe NE-loaded TPGS coated liposomes were formulated by high-speed homogenization by optimizing process parameters like phospholipids: cholesterol molar ratio, drug loading and sonication time through the design of experiments. The drug's behaviour was studied using a variety of techniques, including physicochemical characterization, in-vitro and in-vivo studies. ResultsThe NE-liposomes had a particle size of 125±6.68 nm, entrapment efficiency of 88.64±4.12% and zeta potential of +46±2.75 mV. X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that NE had been converted to an amorphous state, while transmission electron microscope images showed spherical shape and smooth coating of TPGS on surface of liposomes. The formulation showed Higuchi kinetics with sustained drug release of 88.72 ± 3.40% in 24 hours. Cellular uptake of C-6 labelled liposomes was observed in A-549 cells and cytotoxicity testing revealed that NE-liposomes were more effective than marketed formulation Ofev®. Formulation remained in simulated fluids and for three months in stability chamber and. Liposomal oral bioavailability was ~6.23 times greater in sprague dawley male rats compared to marketed formulation Ofev®, according to in-vivo pharmacokinetic data. ConclusionNE-Liposomal formulations are better for oral administration compared to the marketed capsules because of the prolonged drug release and increased oral bioavailability as a result, the developed formulation can become a successful strategy in cancer chemotherapy.

In-Silico Assisted Development of Supersaturable Preconcentrated Isotropic Mixture of Atazanavir for Augmenting Biopharmaceutical Performance in Presence of H2-Receptor Antagonist

The therapeutic potential of atazanavir (BCS Class II drug), a highly selective inhibitor of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) has been largely limited due to its low intrinsic solubility at elevated pH resulting in low oral bioavailability. Thus, the current work describes the systematic development, optimization and evaluation of HPMC-AS based supersaturable preconcentrate isotropic mixture (SP-IM) containing long chain triglyceride to improve intestinal lymphatic transport and augment oral bioavailability of atazanavir (ATZ). A D-optimal mixture design was employed for optimization of plain IM containing Corn Oil, Oleic acid, Tween 80 and Propylene Glycol, evaluating CQAs like particle size, PDI, self-emulsification time, % transmittance and drug content. In-silico analysis and in-vitro supersaturation test facilitated the selection of HPMC-AS as a best suited polymeric precipitation inhibitor (PPI) for formulating ATZ loaded SP-IM (ATZ-SP-IM). In-vitro dissolution data indicated that ATZ-SP-IM exhibits superior performance in 0.025N HCl and pH 6.8 over pure drug. Ex-vivo permeation and in-vivo pharmacokinetic study of ATZ-SP-IM corroborated enhanced permeation (2.03 fold) and improved drug absorption via lymphatic transport in wistar rats. Further, the pharmacokinetic performance of ATZ-SP-IM was not affected in presence of H2 receptor antagonist. Therefore, the results showed that ATZ-SP-IM can significantly improve the biopharmaceutical attributes of ATZ so as to lay a foundation of further research on the new dosage form of ATZ.

Lipid-based nanocarriers for oral delivery of peptides

Therapeutic peptides can treat a wide variety of diseases with selective and potent action. Their oral bioavailability is strongly limited by an important proteolytic activity in the intestinal lumen and poor permeation across the intestinal border. We have evaluated the capacity of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) to overcome both oral bioavailability limiting aspects, using leuprolide (LEU) as model peptide. Lipidization of LEU by formation of a hydrophobic ion pair (HIP) with sodium docusate enables a significant increase of peptide encapsulation efficiency in both SLN and NLC. The nanocarriers, obtained by high-pressure homogenization, measured 120 nm and were platelet shaped. Regarding the protective effect towards proteolytic degradation, only NLC maintained LEU integrity in presence of trypsin. Intestinal transport, evaluated on Caco-2 (enterocyte-like model) and Caco-2/HT29-MTX (mucin-secreting model) monolayers, showed nanocarriers internalization by enterocytes but no improvement of LEU permeability. Indeed, the combination of nanoparticles platelet-shape with the poor stability of the HIP in the transport medium induces a high burst release of the peptide, limiting nanoparticles capacity to transport LEU across the intestinal border. Stability of peptide lipidization needs to be improved to withstand biorelevant medium to benefit from the advantages of encapsulation in solid lipid nanocarriers and consequently improve their oral bioavailability.