Liposomes and Nanoparticles as Delivery Vehicles for the Treatment of Lung Diseases

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are greatly involved in important physiological and pathophysiological processes. Overproduction of most toxic ROS - superoxide radicals - leads to a variety of detrimental health conditions including cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders, and extensive oxidative inflammation. Among others, lung tissue is especially susceptible to oxidative insult because it is in direct contact with oxygen from the air. Inhaled toxic agents such as dust or smoke could stimulate the generation of ROS, which in turn provokes chronic inflammation and development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). To combat these unrelenting conditions, lung tissue is protected by a variety of antioxidant mechanisms. Superoxide dismutases (SOD) are a group of antioxidant enzymes responsible for conversion of superoxide radicals to much less reactive hydrogen peroxide. We propose their use to alleviate lung conditions such as COPD. Major obstacle in drug delivery to the lung is rapid clearance of the drug by respiratory epithelium. To overcome these limitations we propose using delivery vehicles such as liposomes and polymeric nanoparticles
Normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cell culture was used as cell culture model in In vitro study of targeting effect. These nanoparticulate systems have shown to have better targeting in comparison to the plain NPs and samples with control antibodies. Nanoparticles were also loaded with antioxidative drugs (SOD/SOD mimic) to show the protective efficacy against ROS damaging production.