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Pharmaceutical interest of Ils
ILs have been applied as solvents or co-solvents in a variety of applications in the field of analytical chemistry, synthesis and biocatalysis, among others.
More recently, the emergence of ILs with biological activity has revolutionized the scientific focus of these compounds and opened interesting perspectives regarding their pharmaceutical application. In this field there are two possible approaches in which ILs can be used as:
Drug solvents
The possibility of engineering the properties of ILs by manipulating the anion-cation combination, in association with their solvent properties and in some cases water-miscibility, are considered promising characteristics regarding the applicability of ILs as solvents, carriers or drug delivery systems of pharmaceutical drugs.
Our purpose on this field is the prediction of the biological behavior of drugs vehicled by ILs through the study of the influence of ILs on parameters that determine the pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics.
Protein binding affinity assays, based on human serum albumin (HSA) fluorescence and partition coefficient studies, resorting to model membranes are important tools on this investigation topic.
The research on this field is currently focused on the search for non-toxic ILs with potential to be used as solvents by the pharmaceutical industry and on the study of their impact on the pharmaceutical profile of the vehicled drugs.
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients - IL-APIs
From the pharmaceutical point of view, an IL approach, in the design of novel APIs, appears to be appropriate as it enables the chemical manipulation of the compounds with specific objectives related with the manufacturing process, the stability of the formulations, its bioavailability and eventual adverse effects and at the same time avoids the problem of polymorphic conversion, typical of solid formulations.
Till now, specific ILs with biologically active ions, were synthesized and showed to retain the biological activity of both the original cation and anion, proving to be potentially valid active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
The research on this field has been focused mainly on the physico-chemical characterization of the synthesized compounds and on the in vitro evaluation of the expected pharmacological activity.
In this context, it seems important to invest not only on the development of novel API-ILs with pharmaceutical importance but also on the study of the properties that can elucidate about their pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
Our general objective on this field is the study of parameters that enable the establishment of the pharmaceutical profile of novel IL-APIs. We are also directing efforts to the evaluation of the (eco)toxicity of these compounds recurring to enzyme or whole cell based assays.
- In collaboration with Dr. Katarina Bica, from the Technological University of Vienna, Austria
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