title: PEGylation of paclitaxel largely improves its safety and anti-tumor efficacy following pulmonary delivery in a mouse model of lung carcinoma.
abstract: Pulmonary delivery offers an attractive route of administration for chemotherapeutic agents, with the advantages of high drug concentrations locally and low side effects systemically. However, fast clearance mechanisms result in short residence time of small molecule drugs in the lungs. Moreover, the local toxicity induced by antineoplastic drugs is considered a major obstacle for the clinical application of inhaled chemotherapy. In this study, we explored the utility of 6kDa and 20kDa polyethylene glycol-paclitaxel (PEG-PTX) conjugates to retain paclitaxel within the lungs, achieve its sustained release locally, and thereby, improve its efficacy and reduce its pulmonary toxicity. The conjugates increased the maximum tolerated dose of paclitaxel by up to 100-fold following intratracheal instillation in healthy mice. PEG-PTX conjugates induced lung inflammation. However, the inflammation was lower than that induced by an equivalent dose of the free drug and it was reversible. Conjugation of paclitaxel to both PEG sizes significantly enhanced its anti-tumor efficacy following intratracheal instillation of a single dose in a Lewis lung carcinoma model in mice. PEG-PTX 20k showed equivalent efficacy as PEG-PTX 6k delivered at a 2.5-fold higher dose, suggesting that the molecular weight of the conjugate plays a role in anti-cancer activity. PEG-PTX 20k conjugate presented a prolonged residency and a sustained paclitaxel release within the lungs. This study showed that PEGylation of paclitaxel offers a potential delivery system for inhalation with improved anti-cancer efficacy, prolonged exposure of lung-resident tumors to the antineoplastic drug and reduced local toxicity.
authors: Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Advanced Drug Delivery & Biomaterials, Brussels, Belgium; University of Nottingham, School of Pharmacy, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
authors: Tian
authors: T
authors: Luo
authors: Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Advanced Drug Delivery & Biomaterials, Brussels, Belgium.
authors: Cristina
authors: C
authors: Loira-Pastoriza
authors: Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Advanced Drug Delivery & Biomaterials, Brussels, Belgium.
authors: Harshad P
authors: HP
authors: Patil
authors: Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Advanced Drug Delivery & Biomaterials, Brussels, Belgium.
authors: Bernard
authors: B
authors: Ucakar
authors: Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Bioanalysis and Pharmacology of Bioactive Lipids, Brussels, Belgium.
authors: Giulio G
authors: GG
authors: Muccioli
authors: University of Nottingham, School of Pharmacy, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
authors: Cynthia
authors: C
authors: Bosquillon
authors: Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Drug Research Institute, Advanced Drug Delivery & Biomaterials, Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: rita.vanbever@uclouvain.be.
authors: Rita
authors: R
authors: Vanbever
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D018827:Carcinoma, Lewis Lung / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D004337:Drug Carriers; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D017239:Paclitaxel
keywords: Inhaled chemotherapy; Lung cancer; Paclitaxel; Paclitaxel (PubChem CID: 36314); Polyethylene glycol (PubChem CID: 174); Polymer-drug conjugates; Prodrug; Pulmonary delivery