Impact of liposomal drug carriers on drug pharmacokinetics

Engineering targeted in vivo drug delivery. I. The physiological and physicochemical principles governing opportunities and limitations

A physiologically based model is presented to aid prediction of the pharmacological benefits to be derived from the administration of a drug as a targeted drug-carrier combination. An improvement in the therapeutic index and an increase in the therapeutic availability are the primary benefits sought. A measure of the former is obtained from the value of the drug targeting index, a newly derived parameter. Both the drug targeting index and the therapeutic availability are directly calculable. The minimum information needed for approximating both parameters is the candidate drug's total-body clearance and some knowledge of the target site's anatomy and blood flow. Drugs with high total-body clearance values that are known to act at target tissues having effective blood flows that are small relative to the blood flow to the normal eliminating organs will benefit most from combination with an efficient, targeted carrier. Direct elimination of the drug at the target site or at the tissue where toxicity originates dramatically improves the drug targeting index value. The fraction of drug actually released from the carrier at both target and nontarget sites can radically affect index values. In some cases a 1% change in the fraction of the dose delivered to the target can result in a 50% change in the drug targeting index value. It is argued that most drugs already developed have a low potential to benefit from combination with a drug carrier. The approach allows one to distinguish clearly those drugs that can benefit from combination with targeted in vivo drug carriers from those drugs that cannot.

Incorporation of chlorpromazine into bilayer liposomes for protection against microsomal metabolism and liver absorption

Chlorpromazine (CPZ) was incorporated into bilayer liposomes carrying negative charges either from phosphatidic acid (PA) or from phosphatidyl inositol (PI). CPZ incorporation was dependent on the amount of negatively charged lipid present in the liposomes. At a concentration of 0.6 mol parts phosphatidic acid as referred to egg phosphatidyl choline (EPC) as matrix lipid, 80 micrograms CPZ/mg EPC were stably incorporated. At the saturation concentration a 1:1 molar complex between the phenothiazine drug and the negatively charged lipid is formed. This lipophilic complex retains the CPZ molecules firmly within the lipid bilayer. In vitro release of CPZ into the medium surrounding the liposomes was found to be a very slow process with release half-times of 30 to 99 hours depending on liposome composition. Microsomal metabolism of liposomally incorporated CPZ was slowed and reduced by 50% as determined by the formation of CPZ-sulfoxide. In single pass liver perfusion experiments it was shown that CPZ absorption is significantly reduced when CPZ is incorporated into liposomes. It is suggested that this protective effect of the liposomes might influence the pharmacological effects of CPZ and reduce its hepatotoxic properties.