Development of a topical liposomal formulation of Amphotericin B for the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis

Publication date: Available online 23 September 2019Source: International Journal for Parasitology: Drugs and Drug ResistanceAuthor(s): Mahmoud Reza Jaafari, Mahdi Hatamipour, Seyedeh Hoda Alavizadeh, Azam Abbasi, Zahra Saberi, Sima Rafati, Yasaman Taslimi, Akram Miramin Mohammadi, Ali KhamesipourAbstractBackgroundCurrently, there is no topical treatment available for any form of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) in most of the endemic areas. The aim of the current study was to develop a topical nano-liposomal Amphotericin B (AmB) for the treatment of CL.Methodology/Principal Findings: Liposomes containing 0.1, 0.2 and 0.4% AmB (Lip-AmB) were formulated and characterized for the size, entrapment efficiency, long term stability, and skin penetration properties using Franz diffusion cells. Liposomes diameters were around 100 nm with no change during more than 20 months’ storage either at 4 °C or at room temperature. Franz diffusion cells studies showed that almost 4% of the applied formulations penetrated across the skin and the highest skin retention (73.92%) observed with Lip-AmB 0.4%. The median effective doses (ED50), the doses of AmB required to kill 50% of L. major amastigotes were 0.151, 0.151, and 0.0856 (μg/mL) in Lip-AmB 0.1, 0.2, 0.4%, respectively. Lip-AmB 0.4% caused 80% reduction in fluorescence intensity of GFP+ L. tropica infected macrophages at 5 μg/mL of AmB concentration. Topical Lip-AmB was applied twice a day for 4 weeks to the skin of BALB/c mice to...
Source: International Journal for Parasitology: Drugs and Drug Resistance - Category: Parasitology Source Type: research