PLA stereocomplex-chitosan nanoparticles loaded with tenofovir alafenamide as a long-acting antiretrovirals

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) is a major method of HIV and AIDS treatment; however, it has several limitations, such as poor drug availability, cytotoxicity or renal clearance of the drug molecules. The drugs can be encapsulated in biocompatible polymeric nanocarriers to overcome these limitations. Therefore, the NPs composed of different ratios of poly(l-lactide) PLLA, poly(d-lactide) PDLA, and chitosan (CHI) were prepared by spray-drying technique. Subsequently, the NPs were loaded with the antiretroviral drug - tenofovir alafenamide (TAF). The influence of process variables and nanoparticles (NPs) composition on particle size, drug encapsulation and release was investigated. Finally, it was proved that obtained formulations are non-toxic, and their antiviral efficiency was quantified by JurkatE6 cells infected with HIV. Our findings ascertain that PLLA/PDLA/CHI nanocarriers have great potential for delivering anti-HIV therapeutics.