TORONTO-Aerosolized cyclosporin may prevent rejection of lung transplants.
In a seven-patient pilot study at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Bartley Griffith’s team found that enough cyclosporin is deposited in the lungs for it to be used prophylactically. The patients got a 300-mg spray of cyclosporin daily for 10 days, then three times weekly.
Its elimination from blood took longer after aerosol than did IV doses in five patients. And lungs held at least as much cyclosporin as the 20 mg deposited in transplant patients given the drug for refractory acute or chronic rejection, the team told the Canadian Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons meeting here.
Cyclosporin’s dose-adjusted bioavailability after aerosol ranged from 4.6% to 15.9% and correlated with a deposition of 13.8 to 47.7 mg of the drug.
