Potential of the isolated lung technique for the examination of sildenafil absorption from lung-delivered poly(lactide-co-glycolide) microparticles

Herein, we challenged the isolated lung (IL) technique to discriminate the performance of lung-delivered polymeric microparticles (MPs) having distinct drug release rates. For this purpose, sildenafil-loaded poly(lactide-co-glycolide) MPs were administered to the airspace of an IL model and the drug absorption profile was monitored. MPs (particle size of ~5mum) composed of PLGA of lower molecular weight (and glass transition temperature) manifested in the most rapid in vitro drug release (half-times ranging from <15 to ~200min). Moreover, microencapsulation resulted in a delayed sildenafil transfer over the air/perfusate barrier (half-times ranging from <5 to ~230min), where the actual ex vivo absorption profile depended on the release behavior of the utilized formulation. Finally, the obtained in vitro and ex vivo results were tested for level C, B and A correlations. The plotted data showed good agreement (R(2)>0.96) and the slopes of the resulting lines of regression (i.e., 0.80-0.85) indicated a slightly elevated in vitro drug release behavior. Overall, the IL model was able to differentiate between distinct microparticulate formulations and is, therefore, a valuable technique for early testing of potential inhalable controlled release medications.

• Beck-Broichsitter, M.; Stoisiek, K.; Bohr, A.; Aragao-Santiago, L.; Gessler, T.; Seeger, W.; Kissel, T.