mPEG-PLA for liver transplant aid

PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) provides a wide array of mPEG-b-PLA copolymers in the PolyVivo brand. Recently these types of polymers have been used to encapsulate tacrolimus into nanoparticles which proved to be effective against liver transplant rejection in a rat model.  Read more at: Xu, Wei, Peixue Ling, and Tianmin Zhang. "Toward immunosuppressive effects on liver transplantation in rat model: Tacrolimus loaded poly (ethylene glycol)-poly (d, l-lactide) nanoparticle with longer survival time." International journal of pharmaceutics 460, no. 1 (2014): 173-180. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2013.10.035

“Abstract: In this study, tacrolimus (FK506) was encapsulated into a biodegradable poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(d,l-lactide) (MPEG-PLA) block copolymer using a double emulsion-solvent evaporation technique. Drug loading (DL) and encapsulation efficiency (EE) can be changed by varying the mass ratio of FK506/MPEG-PLA. Furthermore, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Malvern Zetasizer were used to investigate the properties of FK506/MPEG-PLA nanoparticles (DL = 9.5%), which were monodisperse (PDI = 0.100 ± 0.023) with a mean particle size of 90.5 ± 1.5 nm. Compared with FK506 capsule, in vitro release profile showed that FK506/MPEG-PLA nanoparticles exhibited sustained release. Meanwhile, the higher concentration and longer retention time in plasma were also confirmed in vivo. We further preliminarily evaluated immunosuppressive effect on liver transplantation in rat model. The survival time of the rat administrated FK506/MPEG-PLA nanoparticles was obviously prolonged than that of the control group administrated FK506 capsule. Graphical abstract: In this study, tacrolimus (FK506) was encapsulated into a biodegradable poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(d,l-lactide) (MPEG-PLA) block copolymer using a double emulsion-solvent evaporation technique. Compared with FK506 capsule, in vitro release profile showed that FK506/MPEG-PLA nanoparticles exhibited sustained release. Meanwhile, the higher concentration and longer retention time in plasma were also confirmed in vivo. The survival time of the rat administrated FK506/MPEG-PLA nanoparticles was obviously prolonged than that of the control group administrated FK506 capsule. Keywords: Tacrolimus; MPEG-PLA; Nanoparticle; Immunosuppressive; Liver transplantation”