Lung-Targeted Delivery of Cepharanthine by an Erythrocyte-Anchoring Strategy for the Treatment of Acute Lung Injury

Jinpeng Zheng; Caihong Lu; Meiyan Yang; Jiejie Sun; Jinbang Zhang; Yuanyuan Meng; Yuli Wang; Zhiping Li; Yang Yang; Wei Gong; Chunsheng Gao

doi:10.3390/pharmaceutics14091820

Pharmaceutics (Aug 2022)

Lung-Targeted Delivery of Cepharanthine by an Erythrocyte-Anchoring Strategy for the Treatment of Acute Lung Injury

Jinpeng Zheng,
Caihong Lu,
Meiyan Yang,
Jiejie Sun,
Jinbang Zhang,
Yuanyuan Meng,
Yuli Wang,
Zhiping Li,
Yang Yang,
Wei Gong,
Chunsheng Gao

Affiliations

Jinpeng Zheng: State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing 100850, China
Caihong Lu: State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing 100850, China
Meiyan Yang: State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing 100850, China
Jiejie Sun: State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing 100850, China
Jinbang Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing 100850, China
Yuanyuan Meng: State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing 100850, China
Yuli Wang: State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing 100850, China
Zhiping Li: State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing 100850, China
Yang Yang: State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing 100850, China
Wei Gong: State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing 100850, China
Chunsheng Gao: State Key Laboratory of Toxicology and Medical Countermeasures, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Beijing 100850, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics14091820
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 14, no. 9
p. 1820

Abstract

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As one of the most frequent complications of critical illness, acute lung injury (ALI) carries a high risk of clinical morbidity and mortality. Cepharanthine (CPA) has significant anti-inflammatory activity, however, due to poor water solubility, low bioavailability, and short half-life, it fails to provide effective clinical management measures. Here, we explored the flexibility of an erythrocyte-anchoring strategy using CPA-encapsulated chitosan-coating nanoparticles (CPA-CNPs) anchored onto circulating erythrocytes for the treatment of ALI. CPA-CNPs adhered to erythrocytes successfully (E-CPA-CNPs) and exhibited high erythrocyte adhesion efficiency (>80%). Limited toxicity and favorable biocompatibility enabled further application of E-CPA-CNPs. Next, the reticuloendothelial system evasion features were analyzed in RAW264.7 macrophages and Sprague-Dawley rats. Compared with bare CPA-CNPs, erythrocyte-anchored CNPs significantly decreased cellular uptake in immune cells and prolonged circulation time in vivo. Notably, the erythrocyte-anchoring strategy enabled CNPs to be delivered and accumulated in the lungs (up to 6-fold). In the ALI mouse model, E-CPA-CNPs attenuated the progression of ALI by inhibiting inflammatory responses. Overall, our results demonstrate the outstanding advantages of erythrocyte-anchored CPA-CNPs in improving the pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of CPA, which offers great promise for a lung-targeted drug delivery system for the effective treatment of ALI.

Published in Pharmaceutics

ISSN: 1999-4923 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Medicine: Pharmacy and materia medica
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/pharmaceutics/

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