Low-cost zeolitic carriers for delivery of hydroxychloroquine immunomodulatory agent with antiviral activity

The coronavirus pandemic prompted scientists to look for active pharmaceutical ingredients that could be effective in treating COVID-19. One of them was hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial and immunomodulatory agent exhibiting antiviral activity. The anchoring of this drug on porous carriers enables control of its delivery to a specific place in the body, and thus increases bioavailability. In this work, we developed low-cost zeolitic platforms for hydroxychloroquine. The waste solution generated during zeolite production from fly ashes was used in the synthesis of Na-A and Na-X carriers at laboratory and technical scale. The materials were characterized by high purity and single mineral phase composition. The surface charge of zeolites varied from negative at pH 5.8, and 7.2, to positive at pH 1.2. All samples indicated good sorption ability towards hydroxychloroquine. The mechanism of drug adsorption was based on electrostatic interactions and followed the Freundlich model. Zeolitic carriers modified the hydroxychloroquine release profiles at conditions mimicking the pH of body fluids. The mode of drug liberation was affected by particle size distributions, morphological forms, and chemical compositions of zeolites. The most hydroxychloroquine controlled release at pH 5.8 for the Na-X material was noted, which indicates that it can enhance the drug therapeutic efficacy.