Evaluation Of Safety And Therapeutic Profile Of Drug Loaded Influenza Virosome- In Asthmatic Models

Abstract

Virosome technology presents a versatile carrier system with application extending in different fields of biomedical research. It has the potential to overcome major challenges of delivering therapeutically effective quantities of biological molecules to the targeted site. These reconstituted viral envelops not only guarantee targeted delivery but also ensure the protection and stability of the active biomolecules under different physiological conditions. On the bases of the success of virosome technology as delivering agent, the present study was designed to develop virosome containing drug and assess its toxicity as well as the efficacy. Influenza virus envelops were reconstituted along with the entrapment of drug (salbutamol sulphate) by the optimized protocol. Drug entrapment efficiency of these vesicles was calculated to be 84.95% and it was found that the drug levels were sustained in the samples for 96 hours. The toxicity of these vesicles was assessed in BALB/c mice. During toxicity assessment, no apparent signs of toxicity were seen physically. Moreover histology images of the lungs, liver, kidneys and spleen showed no difference when compared with the healthy tissue slides. The second part of the study was related to the development of asthma model with ovalbumin and alum in order to check the efficacy. Effects of drug encapsulating virosomes were analyzed and compared with the free drug and liposome using these diseased models. Different tests such as injection of β-blocker (Labetalol), differential leukocyte count, eosinophil count and challenge with the cigarette smoke proved the successful development of asthma model. The diseased models were then given the treatment of virosome, drug and liposome. By assessing the weight trends, pre-convulsion time and histology images it was found that the virosome showed comparable results with free drug and liposomes. The pre-convulsion time periods recorded for the virosome treated group showed the prolonged effect of the drug. The ease of the preparation of virosomes with encapsulated drug and the favorable results related to the toxicity and efficacy, provides a positive opportunity for increasing the half live and bioavailability of different drugs.