Pulmonary Systems Answers

Too often results are compromised by a poor experimental set-up of the studies and nontransparent data. Even essential information such as the relevant physicochemical characteristics of the drug in relation to the chosen aerosol system or the fraction that is deposited in the alveoli is often not provided. This makes it impossible to evaluate the impact of such studies. As a result, it is unclear until now to what extent and at what rate macromolecular drugs (> 20 kDa) can be absorbed by the lung. Moreover, the routes by which macromolecules pass through the different pulmonary membranes, especially the alveolar membrane, are unknown. Appropriate experiments and models that provide adequate answers to these questions are required in the coming years. 

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