Deslorelin is a nonapeptide analogue of the natural gonadotropin releasing hormone or luteinizing hormone releasing hormone used to treat prostate cancer, endometriosis and uterine fibroids. In-situ forming microparticles were developed for deslorelin using smart, biodegradable polymer i.e. PLGA. Response surface, I-optimal design were used to design, formulate and characterize different formulations of deslorelin. To determine the optimized formulation, numerical and graphical optimization techniques were employed. The resulting optimized formulation was evaluated for other physicochemical parameters viz., rheology, particle size distribution, surface morphology of the particles, peptide conformation stability in the formulation and stability study at different environmental conditions. It was concluded that the optimized deslorelin acetate ISFM formulation effectively extended the peptide release for 30 days while maintaining its conformational stability during the period of study. The optimized ISFM formulation was found to be stable at 5°C ± 2°C and 25°C ± 2°C during 6 months stability studies.
Key words:PLGA, Implants, Optimal Design, Peptide and Protein Delivery.
INTRODUCTIONUnlike conventional small molecules, therapeutic proteins are difficult to be administered orally because they are liable to degradation by the harsh gastric environment, hepatic metabolism and short half-lives thereby necessitating frequent administration of high doses by parenteral route (Cleland et al., 2001;Fu et al., 2000;Robinson and Talmadge, 2002). This may lead to major compliance issues in case of geriatric and pediatric patients on replacement therapy. To improve the patient compliance and convenience, prefilled syringes, needleless injectors, auto injectors, pen devices and syringe injectors have been introduced in the market (Arslanoglu et al., 2000;Oberye et al., 2000). However, even these modified and improved versions have their own limitations like higher cost and complex manufacturing process. Moreover, they do not address the requirement for decrease in the dosing frequency.
* Corresponding AuthorDeepak N Kapoor, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shoolini University of Biotechnology and Management Sciences, Solan-173212, H.P., India. Email: deepakpharmatech @ gmail.com Deslorelin is a luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH)/Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) analogue which is 144 times more potent than the native LHRH/GnRH (Suprelorin, 2010). It is used to treat prostate cancer, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, precocious puberty and breast cancer (Kiesel et al., 2002). Treatment with GnRH or its agonists require long term therapy primarily by parenteral route (i.v., s.c. or i.m.) since these peptides are vulnerable to gastrointestinal peptidase degradation which makes them inappropriate for oral administration with only 0.1% bioavailability (Conn and Crowley, 1991; Chrisp and Goa, 1990). Intra-nasal administration of deslorelin is also ineffective and inconstant, with only 4 to 21% being available rel...