Development of a drug delivery system using a model that mimics chronic infection of Mycobacterium bovis Calmette-Guerin in alveolar macrophages.

Macrophages play a dominant role in defense against infective organisms and their regarded abilities can be positioned as their most primitive and important function. On the other hand, tuberculosis, caused by tubercle bacilli which possess the ability to survive in phagosome and grow in cell, poses a serious problem as an intractable disease because the efficacy of drug delivery to the target bacilli is low. We have developed a new approach to therapy against intracellular bacteria using a drug delivery system (DDS), to deliver an effective amount of drug to the target site, based on the phagocytotic ability of macrophages. In this review, the development of an in vitro model of chronic infection by tubercle bacilli and therapy against tuberculosis using phagocytosis by macrophages and a DDS with microspheres are described.

Selective delivery of rifampicin incorporated into poly(DL-lactic-co-glycolic) acid microspheres after phagocytotic uptake by alveolar macrophages, and the killing effect against intracellular Mycobacterium bovis Calmette-Guérin.

Macrophages and their phagocytotic abilities play a dominant role for defense against infected organisms. However, Mycobacterium tuberculosis can survive in the phagosomes of macrophages. In this study, the effective delivery of a drug and the killing effect of tubercle bacilli within macrophages were investigated utilizing the phagocytotic uptake of rifampicin (RFP) that had been incorporated into poly(DL-lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) microspheres. The microspheres were composed of PLGA that had a monomer ratio (lactic acid/glycolic acid) of either 50/50 or 75/25. They had molecular weights from 5000 to 20,000, and diameters of 1.5, 3.5, 6.2 and 8.9 microm. The most significant factor for phagocytotic activity of macrophages was the diameter of the microspheres. By contrast, molecular weight and monomer ratio of PLGA did not influence phagocytosis. The amount of RFP delivered into cells was also investigated. RFP-PLGA microspheres composed of PLGA with a molecular weight of 20,000 and monomer ratio of 75/25 showed the highest amount of delivery (4 microg/1 x 10(6) cells). Fourteen days after infection, the survival rate of treated intracellular bacilli was 1% when compared with untreated cells. There was almost no killing effect of free RFP (4 or 15 microg/ml) on intracellular bacilli. In vivo efficacy of RFP-PLGA was also examined in rats infected with M. tuberculosis Kurono. Intratracheal administration of RFP-PLGA microspheres was shown to be superior to free RFP for killing of intracellular bacilli and preventing granuloma formation in some lobes. These results suggest that phagocytotic activity could be part of a new drug delivery system that selectively targeted macrophages.

Delivery of rifampicin-PLGA microspheres into alveolar macrophages is promising for treatment of tuberculosis.

Inhalation delivery of poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) microspheres (MS) loaded with the anti-tuberculosis agent rifampicin (RFP-PLGA MS) to alveolar macrophage (M phi) cells could be an effective drug delivery system for the treatment of tuberculosis. To examine this possibility, we studied (1) the bactericidal effect of RFP-PLGA MS on Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-infected rat alveolar M phi NR8383 cells, and (2) changes in the biochemical events induced in these cells by the uptake of RFP-PLGA MS. The amount of intracellular RFP imported into the M phi s by RFP-PLGA MS containing 0.25 and 2.50 microg RFP/mL was more than twice and ten times, respectively, than that attained with 5.00 microg/mL of RFP solution; and the MS exerted more potent bactericidal effect on BCG inside M phi cells than 5.00 microg RFP/mL solution after incubation for 7 days. RFP-PLGA MS little affected the viability of M phi cells, whereas the polystyrene latex (PSL) MS used as a reference decreased it significantly. RFP-PLGA MS did not stimulate the production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), nitric oxide, interleukin-10 (IL-10), and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) by the M phi cells, whereas PSL MS stimulated all of these mediators except IL-10. We conclude that RFP-PLGA MS are bio-safe microspheres due to their "silent" nature when taken into M phi cells and that they are promising for the treatment of tuberculosis by pulmonary inhalation.

Stimulation of phagocytic activity of alveolar macrophages toward artificial microspheres by infection with mycobacteria.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to know the effect of uptake of mycobacteria on the phagocytic activity of alveolar macrophage (Mphi) cells toward poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) microspheres (MS) loaded with the anti-tuberculosis agent rifampicin (RFP-PLGA MS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Biological functions such as phagocytic activity toward PLGA MS loaded with fluorescent coumarin (cPLGA MS) and toward polystyrene latex MS (PSL MS), and generation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and nitric oxide (NO) were examined using alveolar Mphi cell NR8383 after they had phagocytosed Mycobacterium bovis Calmette-Guérin (BCG), heat-killed BCG (h-kBCG) or Escherichia coli. RESULTS: The ingestion of BCG, h-kBCG, and E. coli did not affect the viability of the Mphi cells within 2 days. The phagocytosis caused generation of TNF-alpha and NO, being more significant with E. coli than with both types of BCGs. The phagocytosis of both types of BCGs stimulated the phagocytic uptake of cPLGA and PSL MS's, which took place prior to the generation of TNF-alpha or NO, but that of E. coli suppressed the uptake of both MS's. CONCLUSION: Mycobacterial infection stimulated the phagocytic uptake toward cPLGA MS. These results suggest that RFP-PLGA MS is favorable for overcoming tuberculosis.

Chemical constituents of malagasy liverworts, part V: prenyl bibenzyls and clerodane diterpenoids with nitric oxide inhibitory activity from Radula appressa and Thysananthus spathulistipus.

3Beta,4beta:15,16-diepoxy-13(16),14-clerodadiene (1) and a new clerodane diterpenoid designated thysaspathone (2) were isolated from the liverwort Thysananthus spathulistipus, while Radula appressa produced radulannin A (3), radulannin L (4), 2-geranyl-3,5-dihydroxybibenzyl (5), 2(S)-2-methyl-2-(4-methyl-3-pentenyl)-7-hydroxy-5-(2-phenylethyl) chromene (o-cannabichromene) (6), 6-hydroxy-4-(2-phenylethyl) benzofuran (7), and o-cannabicyclol (8). All of the isolated compounds inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells and the greatest inhibition was attributed to compound 5, with an IC50 value of 4.5 microM.