Patent Abstract:
a process for making hemoglobin based oxygen carrier containing pharmaceutical composition suitable for oral delivery and the composition formed thereby are described . there are three exemplary composition configurations which include hemoglobin - loaded nanoparticles solution , enteric - coated hemoglobin capsules and enteric - coated hemoglobin tablets . to facilitate the bioavailability and bio - compatibility of hemoglobin , intestinal absorption enhancers are added in each of the hboc formulations . protective layers ensure delivery of an intact hemoglobin structure in intestinal tract without degradation in the stomach . the hboc formulations may be used for preventive or immediate treatment of high altitude syndrome or for treatment of hypoxic conditions including blood loss , anemia , hypoxic cancerous tissue , and other oxygen - deprivation disorders . in addition to delivering oxygen , the heme group of hemoglobin from hboc formulations can provide heme iron to the human body to aid in the production of more red blood cells .

Detailed Description:
the present invention is directed to oral delivery formulations for hbocs which deliver oxygen to the vasculature via oral administration . three different categories of hbocs for oral administration are described . hemoglobin loads differently in each composition to create individualized and specific releasing and absorbing properties of the hboc . in the compositions according to the present invention , the hemoglobin proteins are encapsulated in an acid - resistant material to avoid acid degradation in the stomach and enable absorption in the intestinal tract of a subject being administered with the compositions . the three pharmaceutical configurations are : ( 1 ) hemoglobin - loaded nanoparticles solution , ( 2 ) enteric - coated hemoglobin capsules and ( 3 ) enteric - coated hemoglobin tablets . a variety of hemoglobin is used in the pharmaceutical compositions including purified hemoglobin , cross - linked hemoglobin , non - polymeric tetrameric hemoglobin , polymeric hemoglobin , and conjugated hemoglobin of various molecular weights . examples of hemoglobin that can be used in the oral pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention are set forth in u . s . pat . nos . 7 , 932 , 356 , 7 , 989 , 593 , 8 , 048 , 856 , 8 , 084 , 581 , 8 , 106 , 011 , the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein . in the hemoglobin - loaded nanoparticle solution , hemoglobin is embedded within a polyelectrolyte complex , comprised of anionic polymer and cationic chitosan chains to ensure the intact structure of hemoglobin and enabling efficient absorption via the oral administration route . anionic polymers that could complex with chitosan include poly ( methacrylic acid )- poly ( methyl methacrylate ) ( pmaa - pmma ) copolymer , hydroxyl propylmethylcellulose phthalate ( hpmcp ) and gamma - glutamic acid ( γ - pga ). the proportion of anionic and cationic components are maintained at ratio at which positively charged nanoparticles are produced , which is found to have enhanced mucosal adhesion to the negatively charged intestinal epithelial ( dünnhaupt et al ., 2011 ). chitosan , a cationic polysaccharide , is derived from chitin by alkaline deacetylation . the polysaccharide chain is constituted by n - glucosamine and n - acetyl glucosamine units . chitosan is non - toxic and soft tissue compatible ( iwasaki et al ., 2004 ). more importantly , chitosan has a special property of adhering to the mucosal surface and transiently opening the tight junctions between epithelial cells ( artursson et al ., 1994 ), making it an ideal intestinal absorption enhancer . hemoglobin - loaded nanoparticles are produced via polyelectrolyte complexation under an aqueous - based condition at room temperature without using harmful organic solvents that would disrupt the intact structure of hemoglobin . the nanoparticles include three major components : anionic polymer , chitosan , and hemoglobin . fig1 illustrates the complexation process of the cationic chitosan chains , pre - mixed anionic polymer chains and hemoglobin , which thereby producing the final product of a positively charged hemoglobin - loaded nanoparticle . the pre - mixed solution of anionic polymer and hemoglobin is adjusted to a final ph that is above the isoelectric point of hemoglobin , inducing a positive charge on the protein surface , hence a strong affinity with the anionic polymer . exemplary methods for forming the nanoparticles are disclosed in makholf et al ., 2011 , sonaje et al ., 2010 , lin et al ., 2008 , brunel et al ., 2010 , the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference . it has been demonstrated that chitosan exhibit antibacterial activity against escherichia coli , and therefore no preservative is needed for long term storage ( sudarshan et al ., 1992 ). however , to prolong shelf - life of the pharmaceutical compositions , vitamin c or n - acetyl cysteine ( nac ) is optionally added to the nanoparticle mixture . vitamin c or n - acetyl cysteine acts as antioxidant to prevent the formation of inactive met - hemoglobin which cannot deliver oxygen . inactive ingredients ( excipients ) optionally include coloring , flavoring , desiccants , further coatings for facilitating swallowing of the oral compositions , etc . in one embodiment , 50 ml of 0 . 05 % w / v pmaa - pmma copolymer aqueous solution is prepared and adjusted to ph 7 . hemoglobin ( 200 mg ) is added to the prepared pmaa - pmma copolymer solution and mixed well to form a first mixture . same volume ( 50 ml ) of 0 . 05 % w / v chitosan ( molecular weight : 130 k ) aqueous solution is prepared and adjusted to ph 4 . 5 . the first mixture is then added dropwise to the ph - adjusted chitosan solution under magnetic stirring at room temperature . nanoparticles are collected by ultracentrifugation at 20 , 000 rpm for 1 hour . the pellet containing a plurality of nanoparticles after ultracentrifugation is re - suspended in 5 ml of deionized water for further characterization . particle size and zeta potential are measured using dynamic light scattering and laser doppler electrophoresis ( zetasizer hs3000 , malvern ), the results of which are presented in table 1 . highly positively charged ( 41 mv ) hemoglobin - loaded nanoparticles with a particle size of about 574 nm is produced . loading of hemoglobin into the polyelectrolyte complex increases both the particle size and zeta potential compared to the blank nanoparticles prepared by the same procedures . spherical morphology of hemoglobin - loaded nanoparticles are also shown in fig4 obtained by the transmission electron microscope ( jem - 2011 , jeol ). the encapsulation / association efficiency percentage ( ae %) and final product concentration are presented in table 1 . the quantity of hemoglobin is measured and determined by a hplc - uv system ( waters 1525 , waters ) at a wavelength of about 410 nm . the column used is a silica - based gel filtration column ( biosep - sec - s 2000 sec , 300 × 7 . 8 mm , phenomenex ). flow rate and injection volume are 25 ml / min and 30 μl respectively . ae % is calculated by the following equation : lyophilization is a well - established technique to create stabilized dry protein formulations . the method of the present invention describes hemoglobin formulations prepared by lyophilization with the addition of cryoprotectants and intestinal absorption enhancers before fabricating into enteric - coated capsules or tablets . cryoprotectants such as glucose , sucrose or trehalose are added to the hemoglobin solution to preserve the structure of protein during lyophilization . intestinal absorption enhancers such as polyoxyethylene - 20 - sorbitan monooleate , poly ( ethylene oxide )- poly ( propylene oxide )- poly ( ethylene oxide ) tri - block copolymer , cyclodextrin , oleic acid , sodium decanoate , sodium octanoate , sodium deoxycholate and sodium cholate hydrate are included in the lyophilization formulations . other stabilizers for the hemoglobin may also be included such as antioxidant . in an embodiment , six lyophilization formulations ( table 2 ) are tested using a laboratory freeze dryer ( lyobeta 25 , telstar ) under operating parameters listed in table 3 . sucrose is added as a cryoprotectant and n - acetyl cysteine as an antioxidant . two non - ionic surfactants are added to the hemoglobin solution as a stabilizer and intestinal absorption enhancer . both polyoxyethylene - 20 - sorbitan monooleate ( commonly known as polysorbate 80 ) and poly ( ethylene oxide )- poly ( propylene oxide )- poly ( ethylene oxide ) tri - block copolymer ( commonly known as polyethylene - polypropylene glycol , ppg ) are fda approved excipients for oral formulations . ppg is a triblock copolymer with a peo - ppo - peo weight ratio of 40 %- 20 %- 40 % and a molecular weight of 8 , 400 da . met - hemoglobin level is measured before and after lyophilization . the lyophilized samples are reconstituted in dionised water before met - hemoglobin measurement using a blood gas analyzer ( il 682 co - oximeter system , instrumental laboratory ). there is no significant change in met - hemoglobin level after lyophilization . the group with ppg ( formulation samples f3 , f6 ; shown in table 3 ) has the lowest met - hemoglobin level compared to the other formulations without ppg . to investigate the trans - epithelial transport of the lyophilized hemoglobin ( formulation samples f1 - f3 ; shown in table 3 ), in vitro , caco - 2 cell monolayers on transwell setup is used . caco - 2 cell culture model , which is culture of the human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma cell line , is a well - recognized method to the study of human intestine function and thereby drug intestinal absorption mechanism . firstly , caco - 2 cells are grown in the t75 flask . dmem ( high glucose , gibco ) supplemented with 10 % fetal bovine serum ( fbs ), 1 % non - essential amino acids ( neaa ), and antibiotics ( 50 u / ml penicillin and 50 μg / ml streptomycin ) is used as the culture medium . the grown caco - 2 cells are trypsinized and 6 × 10 5 cells are seeded onto each well of the tissue - culture treated polycarbonate costar transwell 6 wells / plates ( growth area 4 . 7 cm 2 , corning costar corp ., ny ). the caco - 2 monolayer culture was kept in an atmosphere of 95 % air and 5 % co 2 at 37 ° c . the medium is replaced every other day in the both apical and basolateral compartments . millicell - electrical resistance system ( millipore corp .) connected to a pair of chopstick electrodes is used to monitor the transepithelial electric resistance ( teer ) which reveals the tightness of the tight junction between cells . the caco - 2 monolayer culture is used for the trans - epithelial transport study after 19 - 21 days after seeding . the difference in teer between the blank and the cell monolayer should be in the range of 400 ohm / cm 2 to 500 ohm / cm 2 . the cells are fed with fresh medium 24 hours prior to the trans - epithelial transport study . before the start of the experiment , the cell monolayers are washed and incubated with pre - warmed hank &# 39 ; s balanced salt solution ( hbss ), supplemented with nahco 3 ( 0 . 35 g / l ) and 25 mm hepes ( if ph 6 . 5 ) or 10 mm methanesulfonic acid ( if ph & lt ; 6 ), for 30 min . hbss are aspirated and refilled 1 . 5 ml hbss to apical compartment and 2 ml to basolateral compartment . hbocs and excipients are loaded into the apical compartment . fitc - dextran ( 4 kda , sigma ) could be used as a positive maker to test the permeability of the cell monolayer . the initial teer values were measured by millicell - ers . the cells are incubated at 37 ° c . with orbital shaking at 50 r . p . m . for 3 hours . teer values are recorded at the time point of 1 . 5 and 3 hours . at the end of the experiment , 2 ml of hbss at the basolateral compartment are collected and analyzed with high - performance liquid chromatography ( hplc ) to quantify the pass - through hboc . fitc - dextran is quantified using fluorescence spectrometer ( eurostar ). hemoglobin absorption percentage and the change in teer at the end of the experiment are presented in table 4 . absorption percentage is calculated as the amount of hemoglobin in the basolateral compartment at the end of the study compared to the initially loaded hemoglobin amount in the apical compartment . a 3 . 9 - fold and 2 . 6 - fold increase in hemoglobin absorption is induced by the addition of polysorbate 80 and ppg respectively . the presence of polysorbate 80 in sample f2 induces a more significant drop ( 10 %) of teer compared to sample f1 , whereas there is no significant change in teer for sample f3 . in one embodiment , lyophilized hemoglobin solid mixture is encapsulated in enteric - coated capsules . enteric - coated capsules are commercially available and are composed of gelatin with a polyacrylic resin coating . enteric - coated capsule is acid - resistant but dissolves at ph levels of the order of 6 - 7 which is the ph level found in the intestines . fig2 is a schematic diagram showing the basic structure of the enteric - coated capsule of the present invention . release study of enteric - coated hemoglobin capsules is performed in simulated gastric fluid ( ph 1 . 2 , without pepsin ) and simulated intestinal fluid ( ph 6 . 8 , without pancreatin ) at 37 ° c . three enteric - coated capsules ( size 9 ) are each filled with 10 mg of lyophilized hemoglobin solid mixture . each capsule is placed into 10 ml of release medium in three scenarios : ( 1 ) simulated gastric fluid for 4 hours ; ( 2 ) simulated intestinal fluid for 4 hours ; ( 3 ) simulated gastric fluid for 2 hours followed by simulated intestinal fluid for 2 hours . amount of hemoglobin released at different sampling time is determined by hplc - uv measurement at 410 nm . the dissolution profiles of the three scenarios are shown in fig5 . hemoglobin is well - protected by the enteric - coated capsule in simulated gastric fluid and no hemoglobin is released in scenario 1 . hemoglobin is only released when placed in the simulated intestinal fluid in scenario 2 and 3 . in one embodiment , an in vivo study of freeze - dried hemoglobin is performed to evaluate the efficacy of systemic delivery of hemoglobin . sprague dawley ( sd ) rats ( about 300 g , n = 3 ) are subjected to oral administration of freeze - dried hemoglobin encapsulated in enteric coated capsule containing 9 mg of powder . capsules are given to each rat with a feeding tube at a dose of 0 . 9 g / kg . blood is collected from the tail vein to determine the plasma hemoglobin concentration using a hemoglobin analyzer ( hemocue ® plasma / low hb system ). plasma hemoglobin concentrations are measured before feeding and at time intervals of 3 and 6 hours post - feeding . baseline plasma hemoglobin concentration is 0 . 17 g / dl and progressive increases over the study period of 6 hours . plasma hemoglobin concentrations are 0 . 28 g / dl and 0 . 34 g / dl at 3 and 6 hour interval respectively , which accounted for 63 . 5 % and 97 . 1 % increase compared to baseline . in one embodiment , the efficacy of the treatment of anemia by oral delivery of hemoglobin is studied by a hemorrhagic anemia animal model . male adult wistar rats with a mean body weight of 200 - 250 g are used in the study . the hemorrhagic anemia model is established by 30 % blood phlebotomy , in which 15 % of blood is removed on day 1 followed by another 15 % on day 3 . after each blood withdrawal , equal volume of saline solution is infused into the animal . pressure is applied for hemostasis after wound closure , and antibiotics were given intramuscularly . hemoglobin level is determined on day 4 to confirm the establishment of the hemorrhagic anemia model ( hgb & lt ; 10 g / dl ). the anemic rats are randomly divided into two groups , saline control group ( n = 6 ) and hemoglobin group ( n = 8 ). lyophilized hemoglobin powder is reconstituted in saline solution to a concentration of 0 . 2 g / ml and is administered to the animal by oral gavage at a dose of 1 g / kg . the same volume ( 5 ml ) of hemoglobin solution or saline solution is administrated to the animal orally twice a day , i . e . morning and evening with an interval of 8 hours . blood parameters and body weight , including hemoglobin content ( hgb , in table 5 ), hematocrit ( hct , in table 6 ), red blood cell count ( rbc , in table 7 ), mean corpuscular volume ( mcv , in table 8 ) and body weight ( bw , in table 9 ), are measured on day 7 and day 14 post - dosing . all data are presented as mean ± standard deviation . t - test is used for statistical analysis . values of p & lt ; 0 . 05 are considered significant . it is found that there is a significant increase in hct , rbc , mcv and bw on post - dose day 7 compared to the baseline value before blood withdrawal . significant improvement in hemoglobin content ( hgb ), hematocrit ( hct ), red blood cell count ( rbc ) and mean corpuscular volume ( mcv ) and maintaining body weight ( bw ) without adverse effect compared to the saline control group are also observed . in another embodiment , lyophilized hemoglobin solid mixture is pressed into a core tablet , followed by an enteric film coating . the core tablet described herein uses lyophilized hemoglobin mixture as the active ingredient and other tablet forming excipients such as lactose monohydrate , polyvinylpyrrolidone , magnesium stearate , microcrystalline cellulose , anhydrous dibasic calcium phosphate . optional excipients such as ethylcellulose , cellulose esters , poly ( methacrylates ) can be added to the lyophilized hemoglobin solid mixture to achieve a sustained release of hemoglobin and hence sustained delivery of oxygen to tissues . the thoroughly mixed powders are loaded to a tablet press machine , single - punch tablet press , or rotary tablet press to form the core tablet , which is then film coated by an enteric coating material , including poly ( methacrylic acid )- poly ( methyl methacrylate ) copolymer , hydroxypropyl methylcellulose phthalate and cellulose acetate phthalate . fig3 is a schematic diagram showing the basic structure of the enteric - coated tablet of the present invention . compared to intravenous delivery of peptides or proteins , oral delivery has an advantage in pharmacokinetics because an oral delivery system enables controlled release of peptide or protein from the carriers . such a controlled release mode of delivery of peptide or protein drug is unavailable in direct intravenous delivery . for hemoglobin being introduced into the vascular system , a controlled release and sustained elevation of the hemoglobin concentration in the blood has a greater physiological benefit than that from a sudden substantial increase of free hemoglobin in the injection site from direct injection . a rapid increase in the hemoglobin level increases the chance of developing side effects such as extravasation , myocardial infarction and renal toxicity . the heme group of hemoglobin in hboc consists of an iron ( fe ) ion ( charged atom ) held in a heterocyclic ring . in addition to delivering oxygen to the human body by hboc , the heme group can provide heme iron to the body to aid in the production of more red blood cells . acetazolamide , steroids and rhodiola cannot provide heme iron to the body . oral delivery of hbocs is a non - invasive , convenient and efficient way to prevent or treat has , and therefore , it is favorable for people to take before or during travel from a sea level region to a high altitude region . absorption of undegraded hemoglobin in intestinal tract , skipping de novo synthesis of hemoglobin , increases the oxygen - carrying capacity of blood thus increasing the rate of acclimatization . the orally - deliverable hbocs can also be used to treat acute anemia due to blood loss or to prepare individuals for physically - demanding activities in normal or low oxygen supply atmosphere , e . g . for athletes , astronauts , divers , or navy personnel stationed in submarines . improving tissue oxygenation by hbocs is further useful for preventing / treating tissue ischemia , and promotes wound healing , such as diabetic foot ulcers . while the foregoing invention has been described with respect to various embodiments , such embodiments are not limiting . numerous variations and modifications would be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art . such variations and modifications are considered to be included within the scope of the following claims . the following references relate to various aspects of the present invention and are incorporated by reference herein : artursson , p ., et al . “ effect of chitosan on the permeability of monolayers of intestinal epithelial cells ( caco - 2 ).” pharm res ., 1994 , 11 : 1358 - 1361 . ballard , t . s ., et al . “ regulation of tight - junction permeability during nutrient absorption across the intestinal epithelium .” annu . rev . nutr , 1995 , 15 : 35 - 55 . barnikol , w . k ., et al . “ complete healing of chronic wounds of a lower leg with haemoglobin spray and regeneration of an accompanying severe dermatoliposclerosis with intermittent normobaric oxygen inhalation ( inboi ): a case report .” ger med sci ., 2011 , 9 ( doi : 10 . 3205 / 000131 ). barrett , k . e ., et al . “ new delhi : tata - mcgraw - hill .” ganong &# 39 ; s review of medical physiology , 2009 , 23 rd edition , pp . 619 - 20 . bonaventura , c ., et al . “ allosteric effects on oxidative and nitrosative reactions of cell - free hemoglobin .” iubmb life , 2007 , 59 ( 8 - 9 ): 498 - 505 . brunel , f ., et al . “ self - assemblies on chitosan nanohydrogels .” macromol biosci ., 2010 , 10 ( 4 ): 424 - 432 . cicco , g ., et al . “ wound healing in diabetes : hemorheological and microcirculatory aspects .” adv exp med biol . 2011 , 701 : 263 - 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