Lack of interaction of lopinavir solid drug nanoparticles with cells of the immune system

What is it about?

The treatment of HIV infection is complex and it is possible that the drugs used for its treatment do not achieve adequate concentrations in the blood of patients or are associated with side effects due to the requirement for high doses. Using nanotechnology, we have produced a nanoformulation of one of these drugs (lopinavir) and have previously shown that it works just as well as the non-formulated version but can be administered in water and not an alcohol solution as the non-formulated drug must be. This is particularly important when administering to children with HIV as it is possible that the alcohol solution will no longer be required. In this current work we also show that the nanoformulated version of the drug does not induce any unwanted immune reactions and, in comparison to the non-formulated drug, may actually have fewer side effects. However, the latter point requires testing in clinical trials.

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