No abstract

These findings clearly point out the flaws in using solute concentration in estimating solute activity or supersaturation, and reaffirm the use of flux measurements to understand supersaturated systems. Clear differentiation between solubilization and supersaturation, as well as thorough understanding of their respective impacts on membrane transport kinetics is important for the rational design of enabling formulations for poorly soluble compounds.

International audienc

Isothermal microcalorimetry was utilized to monitor the crystallization process of amorphous ritonavir (RTV) and its hydroxypropylmethylcellulose acetate succinate-based amorphous solid dispersion under various stressed conditions. An empirical model was developed: ln(τ)=ln(A)+EaRT-b⋅wc, where τ is the crystallization induction period, A is a pre-exponential factor, Ea is the apparent activation energy, b is the moisture sensitivity parameter, and wc is water content. To minimize the propagation of errors associated with the estimates, a nonlinear approach was used to calculate mean estimates and confidence intervals. The physical stability of neat amorphous RTV and RTV in hydroxypropylmethylcellulose acetate succinate solid dispersions was found to be mainly governed by the nucleation kinetic process. The impact of polymers and moisture on the crystallization process can be quantitatively described by Ea and b in this Arrhenius-type model. The good agreement between the measured values under some less stressful test conditions and those predicted, reflected by the slope and R(2) of the correlation plot of these 2 sets of data on a natural logarithm scale, indicates its predictability of long-term physical stability of amorphous RTV in solid dispersions. To further improve the model, more understanding of the impact of temperature and moisture on the amorphous physical stability and fundamentals regarding nucleation and crystallization is needed.

In this article, we use a nanotemplate engineering approach to prepare biodegradable nanoparticles composed of FDA-approved materials and possessing accessible gadolinium (Gd) atoms and demonstrate their potential as a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) contrast agent. Nanoparticles containing dimyristoyl phosphoethanolamine diethylene triamine penta acetate (PE-DTPA) were prepared using 3.5 mg of Brij 78, 2.0 mg of emulsifying wax and 0.5 mg of PE-DTPA/ml from a microemulsion precursor. After the addition of GdCl3, the presence of Gd on the surface of nanoparticles was characterized using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM). The in vitro relaxivities of the PE-DTPA-Gd nanoparticles in different media were assessed at different field strengths. The conditional stability constant of Gd binding to the nanoparticles was determined using competitive spectrophotometric titration. Transmetallation kinetics of the gadolinium ion from PE-DTPA-Gd nanoparticles with zinc as the competing ionic was measured using the relaxivity evolution method. Nanoparticles with a diameter of approximately 130 nm possessing surface chelating functions were made from GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) materials. STEM demonstrated the uniform distribution of Gd3+ on the surface of the nanoparticles. The thermodynamic binding constant for Gd3+ to the nanoparticles was approximately 10(18) M(-1) and transmetallation studies with Zn2+ yielded kinetic constants K1 and K(-1) of 0.033 and 0.022 1/h, respectively, with an equilibrium constant of 1.5. A payload of approximately 10(5) Gd/nanoparticle was achieved; enhanced relaxivities were observed, including a pH dependence of the transverse relaxivity (r2). Nanoparticles composed of materials that have been demonstrated to be hemocompatible and enzymatically metabolized and possessing accessible Gd ions on their surface induce relaxivities in the bulk water signal that make them potentially useful as next-generation MRI tumor contrast enhancement agents.