Liposomal encapsulation of trans-crocetin enhances oxygenation in patients with COVID-19-related ARDS receiving mechanical ventilation.

Abstract

Current therapeutic treatments improving the impaired transportation of oxygen in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) have been found to be relevant and beneficial for the therapeutic treatment of COVID-19 patients suffering from severe respiratory complications. Hence, we report the preclinical and the preliminary results of the Phase I/II clinical trial of LEAF-4L6715, a liposomal nanocarrier encapsulating the kosmotropic agent trans-crocetin (TC), which, once injected, enhance the oxygenation of vascular tissue and therefore has the potential to improve the clinical outcomes of ARDS and COVID-19 in severely impacted patients. We demonstrated that the liposomal formulation enabled to increase from 30 min to 48 h the reoxygenation properties of free TCs in vitro in endothelial cells, but also to improve the half-life of TC by 6-fold in healthy mice. Furthermore, we identified 25 mg/kg as the maximum tolerated dose in mice. This determined concentration led to the validation of the therapeutic efficacy of LEAF-4 L6715 in a sepsis mouse model. Finally, we report the preliminary outcomes of an open-label multicenter Phase I/II clinical trial (EudraCT 2020-001393-30; NCT04378920), which was aimed to define the appropriate schedule and dosage of LEAF-4L6715 and to confirm its tolerability profile and preliminary clinical activity in COVID-19 patients treated in intensive care unit.

• Authors: Paul-Michel Mertes, Olivier Collange, Pierre Coliat, Mainak Banerjee, Marie-Charlotte Diringer, Anne Roche, Xavier Delabranche, Vitaliy Chaban, Manon Voegelin, Alexandre Bernard, Valérie Sartori, Nina Laurent, Michel Velten, Navreet Dhindsa, Jason Defuria, Gwangseong Kim, Zhenghong Hannah Xu, Marina Theodorou, Zhaohua Richard Huang, Kaniz Khalifa, Bolin Geng, Clet Niyikiza, Victor Moyo, Patrick Gizzi, Pascal Villa, Alexandre Detappe, Xavier Pivot
• Journal: Journal of controlled release : official journal of the Controlled Release Society (J Control Release) Vol. 336 Pg. 252-261 (08 10 2021) ISSN: 1873-4995 [Electronic] Netherlands
• PMID: 34175365 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Multicenter Study, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• trans-sodium crocetinate
• Vitamin A
• Carotenoids

Topics

• Animals
• COVID-19
• Carotenoids
• Endothelial Cells
• Humans
• Mice
• Respiration, Artificial
• Respiratory Distress Syndrome (drug therapy)
• SARS-CoV-2
• Vitamin A (analogs & derivatives)