Polyaspartamide based microparticles for Tobramycin delivery to the lung in FC therapy

Micro and nanoparticles composed by active compounds and biocompatible polymers, acting as a carrier, represent one of the most studied systems in the research for new pulmonary drug delivery systems. Here, the polyanionic character of PHEA-IB-pMANa+ and PHEA-IB-PEG2000-pMANa+ copolymers, and the possibility to give electrostatic interactions with positively charged species, are used to entrap Tobramycin (TOB), an aminoglycoside that posses 5 protonable amino groups having a pKa values ranging from 9.83 to 12.54. Actually, tob represents a key drug in the management of pseudomonas aeruginosa infections in the airways of cystic fibrosis (cf) patients [www.cff.org]. as compared with normal airway secretions, cf sputum has high content of various biopolymers (mucin, dna and alginate) that, with actin, serum protein and rigidifying lipids, forms a strong viscoelastic network. this can hinder the physical penetration and the distribution of conventional drug formulation and can diminish antibiotic efficacy [xiong et al., 2014]. the design of novel biodegradable therapeutic vehicles may provide controlled delivery and drug protection against the barriers mentioned above thus improving drug efficacy.