Drug Delivery and Translational Research - Featured Article: October 2023
Read the featured article from the October 2023 issue! (this opens in a new tab)
Nebulizers effectiveness on pulmonary delivery of alpha‑1 antitrypsin (this opens in a new tab)
The administration of nebulized alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) to the lung represents an interesting alternative to parenteral infusion for patients suffering from AAT genetic deficiency (AATD). However, nebulization of proteins can have a dramatic effect on their activity. In this paper, a formulation of AAT for infusion was nebulized with a jet or a mesh vibrating system, whose performance was compared in terms of aerosolization efficiency and preservation of AAT function. The two nebulizers allowed a satisfactory preservation of protein activity and provided equivalent aerosolization performances, while the delivered dose was higher with the mesh vibrating system. Nebulization of AAT proved to be a suitable administration strategy ready to be translated to the clinical practice for direct lung delivery of the protein in AATD patients, either as a support therapy to parenteral administration or, for subjects with a precocious diagnosis, as a means to prevent the onset of pulmonary symptoms.