Preparation of Simvastatin Loaded Nanostructured Lipid Carriers and Its Therapeutic Effect on Patients with Severe Acute Lung Injury

Abstract

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a critical illness but have not effective therapeutic modalities currently where recent studies have revealed anti-inflammatory pleiotropic effects and plaque stabilizing effects of statins so the purpose of this work is preparation of simvastatin loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (simvastatin-NLCs) and investigation of its efficacy in lung injury mice. The simvastatin-NLCs was prepared by thermal melting-low temperature curing method and the quality evaluation was performed with particle size distribution, encapsulation efficiency, and drug loading. Sixty C57BL/6 mice were divided into three experimental groups: blank group model group and simvastatin treated group. Simvastatin was administered intraperitoneally immediately after the LPS injection in animals of the treated group at a dose of 20 mg/kg/day. Lung injury degree and the protective effects of simvastatin against LPS-induced lung injury were assessed at the time-points of 24, 48, and 72 h post injection, and the in vivo efficacy of simvastatin-NLCs on mice was investigated. The average particle size of simvastatin-NLCs was (102.1±42.2) nm, the encapsulation efficiency was (94.6±2.5)%, and the drug loading was (5.78±0.57)%. After 24 hours of administration, the data shows that simvastatin-NLCs inhibit the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α inflammatory factor in the lungs of mice.