ABSTRACT
Osteomyelitis is a progressive destruction of bones caused by microorganisms. Inadequate or absent treatment increases the risk of bone growth inhibition, fractures, and sepsis. Among the diagnostic techniques, functional images are the most sensitive in detecting osteomyelitis in its early stages. However, these techniques do not have adequate specificity. By contrast, radiolabeled antibiotics could improve selectivity, since they are specifically recognized by the bacteria. The incorporation of these radiopharmaceuticals in drug-delivery systems with high affinity for bones could improve the overall uptake. In this work, long-circulating and alendronate-coated liposomes containing (99m)technetium-radiolabeled ceftizoxime were prepared and their ability to identify infectious foci (osteomyelitis) in animal models was evaluated. The effect of the presence of PEGylated lipids and surface-attached alendronate was evaluated. The bone-targeted long-circulating liposomal (99m)technetium-ceftizoxime showed higher uptake in regions of septic inflammation than did the non-long-circulating and/or alendronate-non-coated liposomes, showing that both the presence of PEGylated lipids and alendronate coating are important to optimize the bone targeting. Scintigraphic images of septic or aseptic inflammation-bearing Wistar rats, as well as healthy rats, were acquired at different time intervals after the intravenous administration of these liposomes. The target-to-non-target ratio proved to be significantly higher in the osteomyelitis-bearing animals for all investigated time intervals. Biodistribution studies were also performed after the intravenous administration of the formulation in osteomyelitis-bearing animals. A significant amount of liposomes were taken up by the organs of the mononuclear phagocyte system (liver and spleen). Intense renal excretion was also observed during the entire experiment period. Moreover, the liposome uptake by the infectious focus was significantly high. These results show that long-circulating and alendronate-coated liposomes containing (99m)technetium-radiolabeled ceftizoxime have a tropism for infectious foci.
Subject(s)
Alendronate , Ceftizoxime/analogs & derivatives , Liposomes , Organotechnetium Compounds , Osteomyelitis , Alendronate/chemistry , Alendronate/pharmacokinetics , Animals , Ceftizoxime/chemistry , Ceftizoxime/pharmacokinetics , Liposomes/chemistry , Liposomes/pharmacokinetics , Organotechnetium Compounds/chemistry , Organotechnetium Compounds/pharmacokinetics , Osteomyelitis/diagnosis , Osteomyelitis/metabolism , Osteomyelitis/pathology , Rats , Rats, WistarABSTRACT
Osteomyelitis is an infectious disease located in the bone or bone marrow. Long-circulating and pH-sensitive liposomes containing a technetium-99m-labeled antibiotic, ceftizoxime, (SpHL-(99m)Tc-CF) were developed to identify osteomyelitis foci. Biodistribution studies and scintigraphic images of bone infection or non infection-bearing rats that had been treated with these liposomes were performed. A high accumulation in infectious foci and high values in the target-non target ratio could be observed. These results indicate the potential of SpHL-(99m)Tc-CF as a potential agent for the diagnosis of bone infections.
Subject(s)
Ceftizoxime/analogs & derivatives , Organotechnetium Compounds/pharmacokinetics , Organotechnetium Compounds/therapeutic use , Osteomyelitis/drug therapy , Animals , Ceftizoxime/administration & dosage , Ceftizoxime/chemistry , Ceftizoxime/pharmacokinetics , Ceftizoxime/therapeutic use , Disease Models, Animal , Hydrogen-Ion Concentration , Liposomes , Male , Molecular Structure , Organ Specificity , Organotechnetium Compounds/administration & dosage , Organotechnetium Compounds/chemistry , Rats , Rats, Wistar , Staphylococcus aureus/drug effectsABSTRACT
A high-performance liquid chromatography isocratic procedure was developed for the assay of cefetamet pivoxil hydrochloride in drug substance and powder for oral suspension. The method validation yielded good results and included the range, linearity, precision intra- inter-day, accuracy, specificity, LOD and LOQ values. The chromatographic system consisted of a C(18) absorbosphere column (150 x 4.6 mm i.d., 5 microm particle size), a mobile phase composed of water-acetonitrile-methanol-phosphate buffer, pH 3.5 (50:35:10:5, v/v), flow rate of 1.5 ml min(-1) and UV detection at 254 nm. The relative standard deviation varied between 0.03 and 1.76%, and accuracy of 100.09% was found. Calibration curve was linear from 30.0-80.0 microg ml(-1); its correlation coefficient was 0.99989.