In vivo half life of nanoencapsulated L-asparaginase

In the present study, antileukemic enzyme L-asparaginase (ASNase) was encapsulated into poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) nanocapsules in order to decrease the immunogenicity and toxicity of the enzyme and to increase its in vivo half life in mice. Nanocapsules were prepared by water-in-oil-in-water approach and each phase was changed systematically. By changing the pH of the w(2) phase to the isolelectric point of L-ASNase, the encapsulation efficiency was increased from 23.7% to 28.0%. Also, modification of ASNase with PEG(2) increased the encapsulation efficiency from 23.7% to 27.9% and protected the enzyme against denaturation. Combination of the various optima enabled a substantial increase in the activity (0.074-0.429 U/mg nanocapsule). The enzyme activity in the blood due to unmodified PHBV nanocapsules dropped to 38% of its initial value 4 h after injection. When the same sample was tested for the enzyme content in the circulation by using the radio-labeled enzyme a much lower enzyme (30% of initial) could be detected after a shorter time (3 h). The PHBV nanocapsules with heparin conjugated on their surface had a longer presence in the circulation than unmodified PHBV nanocapsules. After 6 h, around 50% of the enzyme was still present in the blood. Radioactivity measurements using the same sample showed a sharp decrease in enzyme amount in the circulation in the early stages. However, radioactivity was still detectable at the eighth hour. No adverse effects and symptoms of anaphylaxis were observed upon injection of encapsulated ASNase-PHBV nanocapsules to mice i.v. through the tail vein. (C) 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers.