Using NMR to study the diffusion of drugs in heterogeneous media
Melissa Sharp (previous student, left the group in 2007)
Introduction
In the pharmaceutical industry there is a big interest in investigating how to encapsulate drugs, in order to optimise delivery to the desired site in the human body.
Drugs can be divided into four classes, depending on their solubility and their adsorption by the delivery site. Ideally, the solubility and adsorption of drugs is high, making administration of drugs simpler. However, for so-called Class IV drugs both solubility and adsorption are low, making administration extremely difficult and a high dose of the drug is typically required. For this type of
drug it is vital to have a better understanding of how they can be solubilised as well as the interactions between the drug and the solubilising system.
Techniques
- Pulsed field gradient NMR
- Dynamic light scattering
- Small-angle neutron scattering
Aims
Initially we are focusing on the Pluronic triblock copolymer micelles. The various phases formed by these polymers, such as the micellar liquid and the cubic gel phase, can be used as a model system for drug delivery vehicles.
There is a considerable interest in the use of block copolymers for the purpose of encapsulation, due to similarities between polymeric micelles and natural carriers, and it is possible for the micelles to mimic aspects of the biological transport system.
We are looking to swell the polymeric micelles in order to increase their drug capacity.
I would like to thank Astrazeneca and EPSRC for funding this project.
