(738a) Development of Mucous-Penetrating Levodopa-Loaded Microparticles for Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease

Drug loaded microparticles for pulmonary drug delivery applications have gained considerable interests, owing to their ability to provide sustained drug delivery for the treatment of various diseases. The treatment of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) by administrating Levodopa (L-dopa) via the pulmonary route provides distinct advantages over the oral formulations. The enhanced stability of the drug increases the period of contact with the local mucosa coupled with the presence of large absorptive areas of the lungs allows a low dosage of drug and reduces the potential side effects. However, the presence of a mucous layer on the pulmonary membranes also poses a major hurdle for delivering drug molecules to the underlying epithelium, especially in the elderly patients, who are the largest fraction of the population suffering from PD. The mucous build-up can entrap the drug molecules and causes delayed release or even degradation.

This work aims to formulation microparticles loaded with L-dopa and study the effect of the presence of the mucous on drug delivery. Characterization of microparticles are performed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Anderson Cascade Impactor (ACI), Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction Spectra (XRD), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Tapped Density and Drug Dissolution Study are also conducted. The stability of L-dopa and the mucus-penetrating capabilities will be studied in saline solution, mucin aqueous solution, artificial mucous and simulated interstitial lung fluids.