Pseudoboehmite as a drug delivery system for acyclovir

Abstract

Herpes simplex virus is among the most prevalent sexually transmitted infections. Acyclovir is a potent, selective inhibitor of herpes viruses and is indicated for the treatment and management of recurrent cold sores on the lips and face, genital herpes, among other diseases. The problem of the oral bioavailability of acyclovir is limited because of low permeability across the gastrointestinal membrane. Based on experiments using nanoparticles of pseudoboehmite as a drug delivery system in vitro assays it was concluded that pseudoboehmite could be used for acyclovir release. We report the synthesis of high purity pseudoboehmite from aluminium nitrate and ammonium hydroxide containing nanoparticles. Pseudoboehmite was characterized by several techniques. In vivo tests were performed with Wistar rats to compare the release of acyclovir, with and without the addition of pseudoboehmite. The administration of acyclovir with the addition of pseudoboehmite increased the drug content in the plasma of Wistar rats after 4 h administration. The toxicity of pseudoboehmite was also evaluated using the Caco-2 cell line (ATCC).