Oxcarbazepine free or loaded PLGA nanoparticles as effective intranasal approach to control epileptic seizures in rodents

The brain as a target for drug delivery is a challenge in pharmaceutical research. Among the several proposed strategies, the intranasal route represents a good strategy to deliver drugs to the brain. The goal of this study was to investigate the potential use of oxcarbazepine (OXC) to enhance brain targeting efficiency after intranasal (IN) administration. As well as attempting to use as low a dose as possible to obtain therapeutic effect. Our results showed that, after IN administrations, the dose of OXC that was effective in controlling epileptic seizures was 0.5 mg/kg (1 dose, every 20 min for 1 h) in rodents, confirmed by Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF) bioavailability. With the aim of reducing the number of administrations, sustaining drug release and increasing brain targeting, OXC was loaded into poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs). The selected nanoformulation for in vivo studies was obtained re-suspending the freeze-dried and cryo-protected OXC loaded PLGA NPs. The translocation of 1-1'-Dioctadecyl-3,3,3',3'-tetramethylindotricarbocyanine Iodide loaded PLGA NPs, from nose to the brain, was confirmed by Fluorescence Molecular Tomography, which also evidenced an accumulation of NPs in the brain after repeated IN administrations. IN administrations of OXC loaded PLGA NPs reduced the number of administrations to 1 over 24 h compared to the free drug thus controlling seizures in rats. Immunohistochemical evaluations (anti-neurofilament, anti-beta tubulin, and anti-caspase3) demonstrated a neuroprotective effect of OXC PLGA NPs after 16 days of treatment. These encouraging results confirmed the possibility of developing a novel non-invasive nose to brain delivery system of OXC for the treatment of epilepsy.