Blood-borne fungal infections that can be lethal for HIV/AIDS, cancer, and organ transplant patients can now be treated with a new drug delivery method.

Developed by researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver (led by Pharmaceutical Sciences Prof. Kishor M. Wasan), a liquid preparation that incorporates drug molecules in fat (lipid-based formulation) so that Amphotericin B (a potent anti-fungal agent) can be taken orally with minimal side effects.

Being used for the past 50 years, Amphotericin B is currently administered intravenously but with toxic side effects: severe kidney toxicity and serious tissue damage at the intravenous injection site.

[Amphotericin B is also used to treat Leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease that affects an estimated two million people worldwide according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.]

Wasan and his research team have discovered that the oral preparation triggers a different molecular interaction than intravenous delivery. The lipid-based system attacks fungal cells only while inhibiting the drug's interaction with kidney cells -- boosting effectiveness and dramatically reducing toxicity.

The oral form of Amphotericin B is cheaper and easier to administer, allowing more patients to have access to the medicine. This new delivery method of Amphotericin B has already been tested in animal models and is planned to be used in humans later this year.

The research findings have been recently presented at a meeting sponsored by the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists in Washington, D.C and will be published in July 2007 in Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy.

Read the full report.

[Photo Credit: www.drugs.com]