Improving the asthma arsenal.

Hochhaus and James Talton, an associate professor and postdoctoral associate, respectively , in the university's Department of Pharmaceutics; and James Fitz-Gerald of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, have begun using the new technique-pulse laser deposition-to coat glucocorticoids with thin layers of a biodegradable polymer. Glucocorticoids are the strongest and longest-lasting asthma treatment in use today. They are Lised to reduce inflammation in the lungs of mnaniy asthnma patients, but once the drugs are absorbed into the bloodstream, they becomiie ineffective. Recent studies have also suggested that high concentrations of gluco-corticoids in the blood may inhibit growth in children by obstructing the body's normnal hormone productioni. The hope is that coating these inhaled steroids will reduce the con-cenitrationis that collect in the blood of asthma patiernts. iseaisc faSt of a pols-0met;. to the ~tes~41 essentiallydoesn't change the size of the inhaled partile," says Talton. Becaus the g-oating known as poly (lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) dissolves slowly, it provides longer sustained release of the drug, says Talton. Keeping the steroid in the lungs longer means less is absorbed sys-temically, and this means fewer side effects. The method is especially appealing because it gives researchers great flexibility in selecting what particles they use and the properties of the coatings they apply. "Most of the coating techniques that have been arotunid. especially in the pharmaceutical area are very specific to the type of material you use," explains Singh. 'The nice thing about this process is it s more universal. You can take alimost any particle, A, and allmost any coating, B, and put a coating of B on A.... YouL can even dial in the thickncss of the coating that you need." Tlhe method is still in its infancv, and years of stLidy and testing will be necessary before the drug coating technique canl be used in asthmiia inhalers. "This has the potcnti.l1 to he a vets exciting advance in aerosol asthlmla