title: Engineering erythrocytes as a novel carrier for the targeted delivery of the anticancer drug paclitaxel.
abstract: Paclitaxel (PTX) is formulated in a mixture of Cremophor EL and dehydrated alcohol. The intravenous administration of this formula is associated with a risk of infection and hypersensitivity reactions. The presence of Cremophor EL as a pharmaceutical vehicle contributes to these effects. Therefore, in this study, we used human erythrocytes, instead of Cremophor, as a pharmaceutical vehicle. PTX was loaded into erythrocytes using the preswelling method. Analysis of the obtained data indicates that 148.8 μg of PTX was loaded/mL erythrocytes, with an entrapment efficiency of 46.36% and a cell recovery of 75.94%. Furthermore, we observed a significant increase in the mean cell volume values of the erythrocytes, whereas both the mean cell hemoglobin and the mean cell hemoglobin concentration decreased following the loading of PTX. The turbulence fragility index values for unloaded, sham-loaded and PTX-loaded erythrocytes were 3, 2, and 1 h, respectively. Additionally, the erythrocyte glutathione level decreased after PTX loading, whereas lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation increased. The release of PTX from loaded erythrocytes followed first-order kinetics, and about 81% of the loaded drug was released into the plasma after 48 h. The results of the present study revealed that PTX was loaded successfully into human erythrocytes with acceptable loading parameters and with some oxidative modification to the erythrocytes.
authors: Kayyali Chair for Pharmaceutical Industry, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2457, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia ; Department of Biochemistry, College of Pharmacy, Al-Azhar University (Boys), Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt.
authors: Gamaleldin I
authors: GI
authors: Harisa
authors: Kayyali Chair for Pharmaceutical Industry, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2457, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Mohamed F
authors: MF
authors: Ibrahim
authors: Kayyali Chair for Pharmaceutical Industry, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2457, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Fars
authors: F
authors: Alanazi
authors: Kayyali Chair for Pharmaceutical Industry, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2457, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia ; Department of Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.
authors: Gamal A
authors: GA
authors: Shazly
keywords: Erythrocytes; Loaded erythrocytes; Osmotic fragility; Oxidative stress; Paclitaxel; Preswelling