Statistical Design of Experiment (DoE) based development and optimization of DB213 in situ thermosensitive gel for intranasal delivery

DB213 is an HIV-1 replication inhibitor targeting the Central Nervous System for the treatment of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. Current study aims to develop an in situ thermosensitive gelling system for intranasal delivery of DB213 facilitated by Statistical Design of Experiment (DoE) to conduct a more efficient experimentation by extracting the maximum amount of information from limited experiments. In our current study, information was extracted from twenty-five experimental designs from MODDE (R) Software and a mathematical model was successfully developed to predict formulations to achieve desired performance as well as to analyze relationships between the amount of Pluronic F-127, Pluronic F-68, Chitosan, DB213 and the performances of in situ thermosensitive gels. Based on DoE, in situ thermosensitive gels of 1% DB213 (F1) and 5% DB213 (F2) were developed for further in vivo bioavailability and brain uptake evaluations in Sprague-Dawley rats and C57BL/6 mice, respectively. In comparison to DB213 water solution, intranasal administrations of F1 at 1 mg/kg in rats and F2 at 25 mg/kg in mice demonstrated relative bioavailabilities of 145% and 165% with significant increase in brain uptake.