Nebulized sodium bicarbonate solution as a mucolytic alternative treatment for cystic fibrosis

ALONSO AGUSTINA; RAMIREZ RIGO MARÍA VERÓNICA ; CESCHAN NAZARETH; GALLO LOREANA

Virtual

Congreso; 6ta Reunión Internacional de Ciencias Farmacéuticas (RICiFa 2020+1); 2021

Universidad Nacional de Córdoba y Universidad Nacional de Rosario

Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease caused by a malfunction of chloride channels. This dysfunction produces dehydration of respiratory system mucus layers, leading to mucus sticky consistency that difficult ciliary clearance. Inhalation administration of sodium bicarbonate (SB) as a nebulization could make mucous secretions thinner and re-establish the pH of pulmonary fluid. However, no SB commercial formulations are available and there is no information regarding optimal mucolytic concentration, stability, and aerosolization behaviour. This work aimed to study the stability, mucolytic and aerodynamic properties of SB solutions. For that, SB was dissolved at 4 and 8% (w/v) in saline solution. The resulting pH was around 8, value well tolerated by respiratory mucosa, and did not change over time. The mucolytic activity was evaluated by determining the viscosity of mucin solutions with and without SB. The viscosity of mucin with SB showed lower significant values than pure mucin. Aerodynamic properties of the 8% (w/v) SB solution were determined using a jet-nebulizer and a cascade impactor. The mass median aerodynamic diameter was around 3.17 µm, adequate for inhalation treatments, also aerodynamic distribution was narrow. In conclusion, SB solutions demonstrated to possessed stability, mucolytic and aerodynamic properties adequate for the proposed application.