Intranasal Administration of Bedaquiline-Loaded Fucosylated Liposomes Provides Anti-Tubercular Activity while Reducing the Potential for Systemic Side Effects

Liposomal formulations of antibiotics for inhalation offer the potential for the delivery of high drug doses, controlled drug release kinetics in the lung, and an excellent safety profile. In this study, we evaluated the in vivo performance of a liposomal formulation for the poorly soluble, antituberculosis agent, bedaquiline. Bedaquiline was encapsulated within monodisperse liposomes of ∼70 nm at a relatively high drug concentration (∼3.6 mg/mL). Formulations with or without fucose residues, which bind to C-type lectin receptors and mediate a preferential binding to macrophage mannose receptor, were prepared, and efficacy was assessed in an in vivo C3HeB/FeJ mouse model of tuberculosis infection (H37Rv strain). Seven intranasal instillations of 5 mg/kg bedaquiline formulations administered every second day resulted in a significant reduction in lung burden (∼0.4-0.6 Δlog 10 CFU), although no differences between fucosylated and nonfucosylated formulations were observed. A pharmacokinetic study in healthy, noninfected Balb/c mice demonstrated that intranasal administration of a single dose of 2.5 mg/kg bedaquiline liposomal formulation (fucosylated) improved the lung bioavailability 6-fold compared to intravenous administration of the same formulation at the same dose. Importantly, intranasal administration reduced systemic concentrations of the primary metabolite, N-desmethyl-bedaquiline (M2), compared with both intravenous and oral administration. This is a clinically relevant finding as the M2 metabolite is associated with a higher risk of QT-prolongation in predisposed patients. The results clearly demonstrate that a bedaquiline liposomal inhalation suspension may show enhanced antitubercular activity in the lung while reducing systemic side effects, thus meriting further nonclinical investigation.