Nasal epithelial cell culture fluorescence recovery after photobleaching predicts cystic fibrosis therapeutic response.

Background: Human nasal epithelial (HNE) cells can be sampled noninvasively and cultured to provide a model of the airway epithelium that reflects cystic fibrosis (CF) pathophysiology. We hypothesised that measures of HNE cell physiology would correlate directly with measures of lung physiology and therapeutic response, providing a framework for using HNE cells for therapeutic development and precision medicine.

Methods: We sampled nasal cells from participants with CF (CF group, n=26), healthy controls (HC group, n=14) and single CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) mutation carrier parents of the CF group (CR group, n=16).

Preclinical Studies of the Nebulized Delivery of Liposomal Amphotericin B.

Intravenous liposomal amphotericin B (L-AMB) has accompanying side effects that may be diminished when administering an inhaled form. Delivery systems for inhaled or aerosolized L-AMB vary, and there has not been a recent comparison of available systems to date. We compared three differently designed nebulizer delivery systems for the inhaled delivery of L-AMB to determine the best combination of efficient lung dosing and treatment time.

Effect of a Surfactant Additive on Drug Transport and Distribution Uniformity After Aerosol Delivery to Lungs.

Inhaled drug delivery can be limited by heterogeneous dose distribution. An additive that would disperse drug over the internal surfaces of the lung after aerosol deposition could improve dosing uniformity and increase the treated area. Our previous studies demonstrated that surfactant additives can produce surface tension-driven (Marangoni) flows that effectively dispersed aerosol-delivered drugs over mucus surfaces.