Intravenous β-artemether formulation (ARM NLC) as a superior alternative to commercial artesunate formulation.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To compare the in vivo pharmacodynamic efficacy of intravenously administered artemether nanostructured lipid carrier (ARM NLC) with commercial artesunate (C-AST) at different dose levels. METHODS: The study compared the in vivo pharmacodynamic efficacy of ARM NLC with C-AST in a murine model. For this study, the Peters 4 day suppressive test was adopted. Plasmodium berghei was the causative organism for inducing malaria in mice. The efficacies of the formulations were evaluated on the basis of percentage parasitaemia in, and survival of, mice. RESULTS: In comparison with the C-AST formulation, ARM NLC demonstrated superior activity in terms of reduction in parasitaemia and increased survival. CONCLUSIONS: Although both formulations were found to be effective in reducing parasitaemia in the murine model, ARM NLC was found to be superior. The study clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of this novel alternative to existing artesunate dosage forms.