Abstract
M.Sc. (Chemistry)
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is continuously rewriting medical history as one of the diseases affecting humankind. Current treatments available for HIV, namely antiretrovirals (ARVs), do not completely eradicate the virus from the body, leading to life time commitment. Many ARVs suffer from high toxicities and unpleasant side effects; as a result many patients do not adhere to the treatment. Nanoparticles (NPs) used as drug delivery systems (DDS) hold tremendous potential, since they can easily protect the drug from external environment and enter the human cells to deliver drugs. Therefore, the main objective of this work was to load two ARVs, namely lamivudine (LAM) and efavirenz (EFV), into a biodegradable, biocompatible poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) polymer based NPs. LAM is a hydrophilic drug suffering from low half life of 5 to 7 hours and many unpleasant side effects. EFV is a hydrophobic drug suffering from low aqueous solubility (4 μg/ml), which leads to a limited oral absorption and low bioavailability (40-45%).