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In vivo Functional Evaluation of Increased Brain Delivery of the Opioid Peptide DAMGO by Glutathione-PEGylated Liposomes

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate formulation factors causing improvement in brain delivery of a small peptide after encapsulation into a targeted nanocarrier in vivo.

Methods

The evaluation was performed in rats using microdialysis, which enabled continuous sampling of the released drug in both the brain (striatum) and blood. Uptake in brain could thereby be studied in terms of therapeutically active, released drug.

Results

We found that encapsulation of the peptide DAMGO in fast-releasing polyethylene glycol (PEG)ylated liposomes, either with or without the specific brain targeting ligand glutathione (GSH), doubled the uptake of DAMGO into the rat brain. The increased brain delivery was observed only when the drug was encapsulated into the liposomes, thus excluding any effects of the liposomes themselves on the blood–brain barrier integrity as a possible mechanism. The addition of a GSH coating on the liposomes did not result in an additional increase in DAMGO concentrations in the brain, in contrast to earlier studies on GSH coating. This may be caused by differences in the characteristics of the encapsulated compounds and the composition of the liposome formulations.

Conclusions

We were able to show that encapsulation into PEGylated liposomes of a peptide with limited brain delivery could double the drug uptake into the brain without using a specific brain targeting ligand.

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Abbreviations

ACN:

Acetonitrile

BBB:

Blood–brain barrier

BSA:

Bovine serum albumin

EYPC:

Egg-yolk phosphatidylcholine

GSH:

Glutathione

HSPC:

Hydrogenated soy phosphatidylcholine

PdI:

Polydispersity index

PEG:

Polyethylene glycol

Kp,uu :

Unbound brain-to-plasma concentration ratio at steady state

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Acknowledgments and Disclosures

The authors acknowledge the excellent technical assistance of Britt Jansson and Jessica Dunhall (Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Sweden) and editorial assistance of Corine Visser (to-BBB technologies BV, Leiden, the Netherlands). The Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Uppsala University carried the cost for the animal work and analytics and to-BBB technologies provided the DAMGO infusion solutions. Drs J Rip, J van Kregten and PJ Gaillard were employees of to-BBB technologies BV and Dr. Gaillard held founder shares in to-BBB holding BV.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

All procedures involving animals performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution and approved by the Uppsala Regional Animal Ethics Committee, Uppsala, Sweden (C328/10).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Translational PKPD Research Group, Associate member of SciLife Lab, Uppsala University, Box 591, Uppsala, SE-75124, Sweden

    Annika Lindqvist & Margareta Hammarlund-Udenaes

  2. to-BBB technologies BV, J. H. Oortweg 19, 2333 CH, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Jaap Rip, Joan van Kregten & Pieter J Gaillard

Authors
  1. Annika Lindqvist
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  2. Jaap Rip
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  3. Joan van Kregten
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  4. Pieter J Gaillard
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  5. Margareta Hammarlund-Udenaes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Margareta Hammarlund-Udenaes.

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Lindqvist, A., Rip, J., van Kregten, J. et al. In vivo Functional Evaluation of Increased Brain Delivery of the Opioid Peptide DAMGO by Glutathione-PEGylated Liposomes. Pharm Res 33, 177–185 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-015-1774-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-015-1774-3

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