Abstract：
Enteral feeding tubes (EFTs) can be placed in children diagnosed with HIV which need nutritional support due to malnutrition. EFTs are the main route for medication administration in these patients, bringing up concerns about off label use of medicines, dose inaccuracy and tube clogging. Here we report for the first time the use of selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printing to develop efavirenz (EFZ) dispersible printlets for patients with HIV that require EFT administration. Water soluble polymers Parteck® MXP and Kollidon® VA64 were used to obtain both 500 mg (P500 and K500) and 1000 mg printlets (P1000 and K1000) containing 200 mg of EFZ each. The use of SLS 3D printing obtained porous dosage forms with high drug content (20 % and 40 % w/w) and drug amorphization using both polymers. P500, K500 and K1000 printlets reached disintegration in under 230 s in 20 mL of water (25 ± 1 °C), whilst P1000 only partially disintegrated, possibly due to saturation of the polymer in the medium. As a result, the development of dispersible EFZ printlets using hydrophilic polymers can be explored as a potential strategy for drug delivery through EFTs in paediatrics with HIV, paving the way towards the exploration of more rapidly disintegrating polymers and excipients for SLS 3D printing.
摘要：
肠内营养管（EFTs）可以放置在因营养不良而需要营养支持的被诊断为HIV的儿童中。EFTs是这些患者用药的主要途径，引起人们对药品标签外使用的担忧，剂量不准确和管堵塞。在这里，我们首次报道了使用选择性激光烧结（SLS）3D打印为需要EFT管理的HIV患者开发efavirenz（EFZ）可分散打印。使用水溶性聚合物Parteck®MXP和Kollidon®VA64来获得各自含有200mgEFZ的500mg(P500和K500)和1000mg印张(P1000和K1000)。使用SLS3D打印获得了具有高药物含量(20%和40%w/w)和使用两种聚合物的药物无定形化的多孔剂型。P500、K500和K1000打印在20mL水(25±1°C)中230秒内达到崩解,而P1000仅部分分解，可能是由于聚合物在介质中的饱和。因此,开发使用亲水性聚合物的可分散EFZ打印件可以作为通过HIV儿科中的EFTs进行药物递送的潜在策略进行探索，为探索SLS3D打印更快速崩解的聚合物和赋形剂铺平了道路。
