Thermosensitive In Situ Liposomal Gels Loaded With Antimicrobial Agent for Oral Care in Critically Ill Patients

Abstract

Aim: A novel thermosensitive in situ gel loaded with meropenem (MP) liposomes was designed to improve retention in the oral cavity as a prophylactic measure to prevent ventilator-acquired pneumonia in critically ill patients. Methodology & results: Meropenem liposomes were incorporated into poloxamer 407 gels and gamma irradiated. Mean size of liposome was 247 nm, polydispersity index < 0.3 and zeta potential >-25 mV; properties remained unaltered even post sterilization. Permeation study revealed that 75.26% and 34% of MPs were released from MP in situ gel and MP in situ liposomal gel, respectively. The relation between viscosity (cp) and shear rate (1/s) indicate that in situ gels exhibited non-Newtonian behavior at 37°C. The study using Pseudomonas aeruginosa confirmed the antimicrobial activity of meropenem. Conclusion: Prolonged in situ residence, because of rapid gelation process enables an easy administration of meropenem as liposomal suspension in critically ill patients.

Keywords:

• gamma irradiation
• in situ gel
• liposomes
• meropenem
• nosocomial infection
• VAP
• ventilator-acquired pneumonia

Supplementary data

To view the supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at:www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.2217/epi-2016-0184

Acknowledgments

We thank Meera NK and Githa Kishore and Kiran Nagaraju, VIPS for all the support rendered during the inception of project.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

We are grateful to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), Bangalore, India for providing the financial assistance to the first author (Order number RGU: Adv. Res.: Proposal-P-183:2015-16, Date: 6 January 2016). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of VIPS. The study protocol conforms to the ethical guidelines of the 2013 Declaration of Helsinki as reflected in a prior approval by the institutions human research committee. The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human experimental investigations. In addition, for investigations involving human subjects, informed consent has been obtained from the participants involved.