Complexos de platina com diaminas N-alquiladas de cadeia longa: síntese, inclusão em lipossomas, atividade citotóxica, antitumoral e estudos farmacocinéticos

Abstract

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in the world, with chemotherapy being a valuable tool for the treatment of the disease. The development of novel compounds which are more active and less toxic and which could become eventual anti-tumor drugs constitutes a research area of great relevance. The use of nanobiotechnology represents an intelligent alternative to assist in the development of new pharmaceutical formulations which may permit other administration routes thereby elevating the quality of life of cancer patients. Platinum complexes are well established anti-tumor agents in clinical use, with cisplatin being the most widely used compound of this class. The present work demonstrates the preparation of novel platinum(II) and platinum(IV) complexes employing long chain, N-alkyl derivatives of 1,2-ethanediamine and 1,3-propanediamine as ligands. These complexes were characterized by IR, 1H, 13C and 195Pt NMR spectroscopies, elemental analysis and had their cytotoxicities investigated in both normal and tumor cells. Considering the ambiphilic properties of the complexes due to the presence of the long carbon chain, several of them were incorporated into furtive liposomes and presented a good degree of encapsulation. One of the complexes, which showed the most promise in terms of both ease of preparation and degree of incorporation into liposomes, was selected for in vivo testing and evaluation as an anti-tumor agent against induced melanoma in mice using cisplatin as a reference. The pharmacokinetics of the liposomes prepared with this complex were also investigated. For this study, an adaptation of methodology for the determination of platinum in plasma and tissue samples from the test mice by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy was employed. The pharmacokinetic parameters showed elevated plasma concentrations for the liposomal formulation. This formulation also presented greater anti-tumor activity and reduced toxicity relative to the free complex.