Título:	3D-printed tablets of nifurtimox : in vitro and in vivo Anti-Trypanosoma cruzi studies
Autor(es):	Bedogni, Giselle R. Lima, Ana Luiza Gross, Idejan P. Menezes, Tatiana Prata Talvani, Andre Cunha-Filho, Marcílio Salomon, Claudio J.
ORCID:	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2177-8941 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1798-7927 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4530-8987 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6685-6229 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9167-6852
Afiliação do autor:	National Council for Scientific and Technical Research, Institute of Chemistry Rosario University of Brasilia, School of Health Sciences, Laboratory of Food, Drug, and Cosmetics University of Brasilia, School of Health Sciences, Laboratory of Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Federal University of Ouro Preto Federal University of Ouro Preto University of Brasilia, School of Health Sciences, Laboratory of Food, Drug, and Cosmetics National Council for Scientific and Technical Research, National University of Rosario
Assunto:	Impressão 3D Nifurtimox Modelagem 3D Extrusão por fusão a quente Moldagem de filmes Atividade anti-T. cruzi
Data de publicação:	jan-2025
Editora:	MDPI
Referência:	Bedogni, G.R, et al. 3D-printed tablets of nifurtimox : in vitro and in vivo Anti-Trypanosoma cruzi studies. Pharmaceutics, [s. l.], v. 17, 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics17010080. Disponível em: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/17/1/80. Acesso em: 23 fev. 2026.
Abstract:	Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by infection with the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. Benznidazole and nifurtimox are the only approved drugs for treating this condition, but their low aqueous solubility may lead to erratic bioavailability. This work aimed for the first time to formulate tablets of nifurtimox by hot melt extrusion coupled with 3D printing as a strategy to increase drug dissolution and the production of tablets with dosage on demand. Methods: Different pharmaceutical-grade polymers were evaluated through film casting, and those with promising nifurtimox amorphization capacity were further used to prepare filaments by hot melt extrusion. The printability of the obtained filaments was tested, and the polyvinyl alcohol filament was further used for printing tablets containing 120 and 60 mg of nifurtimox. Results: Three-dimensional tablets showed a remarkable improvement in the drug dissolution rate compared to commercial tablets and a dissolution efficiency 2.8 times higher. In vivo studies were carried out on Swiss mice. Parasitemia curves of nifurtimox printed tablets were significantly superior to the pure drug. Moreover, NFX 3D tablets provided a similar Trypanosoma cruzi reduction in plasmatic concentration to benznidazole, the goldstandard drug for acute-phase treatment of the Chagas disease. Conclusions: The findings of this work showed that hot melt extrusion coupled with 3D printing is a promising alternative for increasing nifurtimox biopharmaceutical properties and an attractive approach for personalized medicine.
Unidade Acadêmica:	Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde (FS) Departamento de Farmácia (FS FAR)
Programa de pós-graduação:	Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde
Licença:	© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/).
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics17010080
Versão da editora:	https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/17/1/80
Aparece nas coleções:	Artigos publicados em periódicos e afins

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