Conjugation to PEG as a strategy to limit the uptake of drugs by the placenta: potential applications for drug administration in pregnancy

Dodd, A., Natfji, A. A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6168-4632, Evangelinos, A., Grigoletto, A., Pasut, G., Beards, F., Renshall, L., Osborn, H. M. I. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0683-0457, Greco, F. and Harris, L. K. (2022) Conjugation to PEG as a strategy to limit the uptake of drugs by the placenta: potential applications for drug administration in pregnancy. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 19 (1). pp. 345-353. ISSN 1543-8392 doi: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.1c00498

Abstract/Summary

Here, we evaluated the feasibility of non-prodrug PEG–drug conjugates to decrease the accumulation of drugs within the placental tissues. The results showed that PEG was biocompatible with the human placenta with no alteration of the basal rate of proliferation or apoptosis in term placental explants. No significant changes in the released levels of lactate dehydrogenase and the human chorionic gonadotropin were observed after PEG treatment. The cellular uptake studies revealed that conjugating Cy5.5 and haloperidol to PEG significantly reduced (by up to ∼40-fold) their uptake by the placenta. These findings highlight the viability of novel non-prodrug polymer–drug conjugates to avoid the accumulation of drugs within the placenta.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/101866
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy > School of Pharmacy > Pharmaceutics Research Group
Publisher	American Chemical Society
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