Modified pullulan nanoparticles for oral delivery of lopinavir: formulation and pharmacokinetic evaluation.

In this investigation, we report the use of the pullulan acetate, a hydrophobic derivative of pullulan in the formulation of Lopinavir loaded nanoparticles meant for oral delivery. Pullulan was modified to pullulan acetate by acetylation process in the presence of pyridine; acetylation was confirmed by FT-IR and NMR spectra. Lopinavir, an HIV-protease inhibitor was formulated into nanoparticles of pullulan acetate by the well-known emulsion-solvent-evaporation method.