Tailoring surface properties of liposomes for dexamethasone intraocular administration.

Diseases of the posterior eye segment are often characterized by intraocular inflammation, which causes, in the long term, severe impairment of eye functions and, ultimately, vision loss. Aimed at enhancing the delivery of anti-inflammatory drugs to the posterior eye segment upon intravitreal administration, we developed liposomes with an engineered surface to control their diffusivity in the vitreous and retina association. Hydrogenated soybean phosphatidylcholine (HSPC)/cholesterol liposomes were coated with (agmatinyl)6-maltotriosyl-acetamido-N-(octadec-9-en-1-yl)hexanamide (Agm6-M-Oleate), a synthetic non-peptidic cell penetration enhancer (CPE), and/or 5% of mPEG2kDa-DSPE. The zeta potential of liposomes increased, and the mobility in bovine vitreous and colloidal stability decreased with the Agm6-M-Oleate coating concentration. Oppositely, mPEG2kDa-DSPE decreased the zeta potential of liposomes and restored both the diffusivity and the stability in vitreous. Liposomes with 5 mol% Agm6-M-Oleate coating were well tolerated by ARPE-19 retina cells either with or without mPEG2kDa-DSPE, while 10 mol% Agm6-M-Oleate showed cytotoxicity. Agm6-M-Oleate promoted the association of liposomes to ARPE-19 cells with respect to plain liposomes, while mPEG2kDa-DSPE slightly reduced the cell interaction. Dexamethasone hemisuccinate (DH) was remotely loaded into liposomes with a loading capacity of ∼10 wt/wt%. Interestingly, mPEG2kDa-DSPE coating reduced the rate of DH release and enhanced the disposition of Agm6-M-Oleate coated liposomes in the ARPE-19 cell cytosol resulting in a more efficient anti-inflammatory effect. Finally, mPEG2kDa-DSPE enhanced the association of DH-loaded Agm6-M-Oleate coated liposomes to explanted rat retina, which reflected in higher viability of inner and outer nuclear layer cells.

Dexamethasone Loaded Liposomes by Thin-Film Hydration and Microfluidic Procedures: Formulation Challenges.

Liposomes have been one of the most exploited drug delivery systems in recent decades. However, their large-scale production with low batch-to-batch differences is a challenge for industry, which ultimately delays the clinical translation of new products. We have investigated the effects of formulation parameters on the colloidal and biopharmaceutical properties of liposomes generated with a thin-film hydration approach and microfluidic procedure. Dexamethasone hemisuccinate was remotely loaded into liposomes using a calcium acetate gradient. The liposomes produced by microfluidic techniques showed a unilamellar structure, while the liposomes produced by thin-film hydration were multilamellar. Under the same remote loading conditions, a higher loading capacity and efficiency were observed for the liposomes obtained by microfluidics, with low batch-to-batch differences. Both formulations released the drug for almost one month with the liposomes prepared by microfluidics showing a slightly higher drug release in the first two days. This behavior was ascribed to the different structure of the two liposome formulations. In vitro studies showed that both formulations are non-toxic, associate to human Adult Retinal Pigment Epithelial cell line-19 (ARPE-19) cells, and efficiently reduce inflammation, with the liposomes obtained by the microfluidic technique slightly outperforming. The results demonstrated that the microfluidic technique offers advantages to generate liposomal formulations for drug-controlled release with an enhanced biopharmaceutical profile and with scalability.

Perforated malignant gastric ulcer in a pregnant young adult: a case report.

Gastric cancer in the young adult is rare and has been said to be more aggressive than gastric cancers of the older age group. Its unique association with pregnancy is even rarer. However, they have similar complications of haemorrhage, obstruction and perforation. We report a 27 year old lady at 16 weeks gestation who presented with a perforated malignant gastric ulcer and carcinomatosis peritonei. Reviewing the literature, we realised that such complication of a gastric cancer occurring in a pregnant young adult has not been previously documented.