Our study was designed to evaluate the pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution, toxicity and therapeutic efficacy of liposome-encapsulated paclitaxel (LET) in comparison to conventional paclitaxel. In normal mice, LET was much less toxic than the conventional drug. A dose of 32.5 mg/kg of conventional paclitaxel administered i.v. on three consecutive days produced 100% mortality by day three, while liposomal paclitaxel exhibited no mortality. The control group which received Diluent 12 (Chremophor EL and ethanol; 1:1 v/v), a vehicle used in conventional paclitaxel, 30% mortality was observed at this dosage level. In murine ascitic L1210 leukemia model, liposomal paclitaxel and conventional paclitaxel showed comparable antitumor activity. The pharmacokinetics of conventional paclitaxel and LET was studied in mice at dose levels of 5 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg. After intravenous administration of conventional paclitaxel at a dose of 5 mg/kg, the area under the plasma-concentration-time curve (AUC) was 2-fold lower and, the elimination half-life was 2-times shorter compared to LET. At a dose of 20 mg/kg, the terminal half-lives were comparable, however, conventional paclitaxel displayed non-linear pharmacokinetics with disproportionate increase in AUC. At the two dose levels studied, LET demonstrated linear kinetics. Tissue distribution of paclitaxel after administration of LET showed levels 10-fold higher in spleen and 3.5-fold higher in liver as compared to conventional paclitaxel. The significant decrease in toxicity shown by LET, coupled with an increase in plasma AUC and half-life indicates that LET may be a viable alternative to the therapeutic use of the conventional preparation of paclitaxel.

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