Design, Synthesis and Studies on Novel Polymeric Prodrugs of Erlotinib for Colon Drug Delivery

AIMS In the present study, polymer-drug conjugates were synthesized based on azo-bond cleavage drug delivery approach for targeting erlotinib as anticancer drug specifically to the colon for the proficient treatment of colon cancer. BACKGROUND Colon cancer (CC) is the third commonly detected tumor worldwide and it make up about 10 % of all cases of cancers. Most of the chemotherapeutic drugs available for treating colon cancer are not only toxic to cancerous cells but also to the normal healthy cells. Among the various approaches to get rid of the adverse effects of anticancer agents, prodrugs are one of the most imperative approaches. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study is to chemically modify the erlotinib drug through azo-bond linkage and suitable spacer which will be finally linked to polymeric backbone to give desired polymer linked prodrug. The azo reductase enzyme present in colon is supposed to cleave the azo-bond specifically and augment the drug release at the colon. METHODS The synthesized conjugates were characterized by IR and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. The cleavage of aromatic azobond resulted in a potential colon-specific liberation of drug from conjugate studied in rat fecal contents. In vitro release profiles of polyphosphazene-linked conjugates of erlotinib have been studied at pH 1.2, pH 6.8 and pH 7.4. The stability study was designed to exhibit that free drug was released proficiently and unmodified from polyphosphazene-erlotinib conjugates having aromatic azo-bond in artificial colon conditions. RESULTS The synthesized conjugates were demonstrated to be stable in simulated upper gastro-intestinal tract conditions. The drug release kinetics shows that all the polymer-drug conjugates of erlotinib follow zero-order release kinetics which indicates that the drug release from the polymeric backbone is independent of its concentration. Kinetic study of conjugates with slope (n) shows the anomalous type of release with an exponent (n) > 0.89 indicating a super case II type of release. CONCLUSION These studies indicate that polyphosphazene linked drug conjugates of erlotinib could be the promising candidates for the site-specific treatment of colon cancer with least detrimental side-effects.