Colon targeting of fluticasone propionate inclusion complex: a novel approach in inflammatory bowel disease

Advances in Pharmaceutical Strategies Enhancing the Efficiencies of Oral Colon-Targeted Delivery Systems in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a common disease characterized by chronic inflammation in gastrointestinal tracts, which is primarily treated by administering anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drugs that inhibit the burden of intestinal inflammation and improve disease-related symptoms. However, the established therapeutic strategy has limited therapeutic efficacy and adverse drug reactions. Therefore, new disease-targeting drug-delivery strategies to develop more effective treatments are urgent. This review provides an overview of the drug-targeting strategies that can be used to treat IBD, and our recent attempts on the colon-specific delivery system (Pae-SME-CSC) with a paeonol-loaded self-microemulsion (Pae-SMEDDS) are introduced.

Degradation rates and products of fluticasone propionate in alkaline solutions

The apparent degradation rate constant of fluticasone propionate (FLT) in 0.1 M NaOH:methanol=1:1 at 37 °C was previously reported to be 0.169±0.003 h-1, and four degradation products (products 1-4) were observed in the solution. The aims of the present study were to assess the degradation rates of FLT in other alkaline solutions and clarify the chemical structures of the four degradation products in order to obtain basic data for designing an enema for inflammatory bowel disease. The apparent degradation rate constants in 0.05 M NaOH and 0.1 M NaOH:CH3CN=1:1 were 0.472±0.013 h-1 and 0.154±0.000 h-1 (n=3), respectively. The chemical structures of products 1-4 in 0.1 M NaOH:methanol=1:1 were revealed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry data. The chemical structure of products 2 was that the 17-position of the thioester moiety of FLT was substituted by a carboxylic acid. The degradation product in 0.1 M NaOH:CH3CN=1:1 was found to be product 2 based on 1H NMR data. The degradation product in 0.05 M NaOH was considered to be product 2 based on the retention time of HPLC. These results are useful for detecting the degradation products of FLT by enzymes of the intestinal bacterial flora in the large intestine after dosing FLT as an enema.