PERFLUOROCHEMICALS, DESPITE INSOLUBILITY IN WATER, HAVE SHOWN PROMISE AS OXYGEN CARRIERS IN ACELLULAR BLOOD SUBSTITUTES.

PERFLUOROCHEMICALS, DESPITE INSOLUBILITY IN WATER, HAVE SHOWN PROMISE AS OXYGEN CARRIERS IN ACELLULAR BLOOD SUBSTITUTES. THE SURFACTANT USED FOR PERFLUOROCHEMICAL EMULSIONS IS MILDLY TOXIC, AND FLUOSOL-DA 20% EMULSIONS (THE MOST EXTENSIVELY TESTED) ARE STABLE ONLY WHEN FROZEN. OUR RESEARCH OBJECTIVE IS TO DEVELOP SUPERIOR EMULSIONS USING A PATENTED HOMOLOGOUS SERIES OF SEMISYNTHETIC PHOSPHOLIPID COMPOUNDS AS EMULSIFYING AGENTS FOR THREE OF THE MOST PROMISING PERFLUOROCHEMICALS. BATCHES OF DIFFERENT MOLECULAR WEIGHT SPECIES OF SURFACTANTS WILL BE SYNTHESIZED. AN OPTIMUM MOLECULAR WEIGHT SPECIES OF SURFACTANT WILL BE DETERMINED FOR SOLUBILIZING THE PERFLUOROCHEMICALS IN VITRO. OPTIMIZATION INCLUDES MAXIMIZING THE CONCENTRATION OF PERFLUROCHEMICALS AND THE THERMAL AND STORAGE STABILITY OF THE EMULSION, WHILE MINIMIZING THE AVERAGE PARTICLE SIZE AND VISCOSITY OF THE EMULSION. CHANGES IN PARTICLE SIZE WILL BE MONITORED AS A FUNCTION OF STORAGE TIME AND CHANGING TEMPERATURE. PERFORMANCE OF EXPERIMENTAL EMULSIONS WILL BE COMPARED TO THAT OF FLUOSOL-DA 20%. IF ANY EXPERIMENTAL EMULSION IS SUPERIOR, PHASE II STUDIES, PRIMARILY ANIMAL TOXICOLOGY, PLASMA KINETICS, AND EFFICACY STUDIES, WILL BEGIN. IN PHASE II STUDIES, PERFORMANCE OF EXPERIMENTAL EMULSIONS WILL ALSO BE COMPARED WITH FLUOSOL-DA 20%. A COMMERCIAL LICENSE WILL BE SOUGHT AFTER PHASE II.