Objectives
A major challenge faced with the manufacture of liposomes is the high volumes of organic solvents used during manufacturing. Therefore, we have implemented an organic solvent‐free production method for drug‐loaded liposomes and demonstrated its applicability with both aqueous core‐loaded and bilayer‐loaded drugs.
Methods
Liposomes were produced by high shear mixing dry powder lipids with an aqueous buffer, followed by down‐sizing using a Microfluidizer processor. Liposomes were purified via tangential flow filtration and characterised in terms of size, polydispersity index, zeta potential and drug loading.
Key findings
Doxorubicin‐loaded PEGylated liposomes can be manufactured using this solvent‐free method with particle sizes of 100–110 nm, low polydispersity index (PDI) (<0.2) and high drug loading (97–98%). If required, liposomes can be further down‐sized via microfluidic processing without impacting drug loading. Similar results were achieved with non‐PEGylated liposomes. With bilayer‐loaded amphotericin B liposomes, again liposomes can be prepared within a clinically appropriate size range (100–110 nm in size, low PDI) with high drug loading (98–100%).
Conclusions
We apply a simple and scalable solvent‐free method for the production of both aqueous core or bilayer drug‐loaded liposomes.
Corticosteroids have the major role in the immunosuppressive treatment of patients who have received renal transplants. Despite their extensive use there is still debate about the appropriate dose that will prevent rejection of the renal allograft with the least morbidity. From March 1979 to November 1981 a randomised controlled trial of high (33 patients) v low oral dose (34 patients) of prednisolone along with azathioprine was conducted in recipients of first cadaveric transplants who had received a blood transfusion within six months of transplantation. The main difference in outcome between the two groups was a high incidence of some infections in the high dose group. Patient mortality, graft survival, transplant function, and number of rejection episodes were indistinguishable in the two groups, but rejection episodes tended to occur later in the high dose group.These findings suggest that the use of lower doses of corticosteroids soon after cadaveric renal transplantation does not jeopardise graft survival and results in lower patient morbidity.
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