IN-VITRO AND EX-VIVO EVALUATION OF METHOTREXATE REMOVAL BY DIFFERENT SORBENTS HEMOPERFUSION

The administration of high doses of Methotrexate (HDMTX) seems to be v ery effective in neoplastic treatment. Furthermore high doses of the d rug could overcome the Methotrexate (MTX) resistance that it is possib le to observe in some kind of cancers. To avoid several serious proble ms in the therapeutical application of HDMTX such as nephrotoxicity, h epatotoxicity and the difficulty to assess the right therapeutic range of the specific antagonist Leucovorin, a Haemoperfusion (HP) treatmen t could be very usefull. In this study 3 anion exchange resins with di fferent active group (trimethylammonium, dimethylethanolammonium and d imethylammina) and a spherical petroleum based charcoal were tested bo th in vitro and ex vivo to evaluate their capability to remove MTX. Th ese results show a good strenght and biocompatibility of the 4 sorbent s and demonstrate the active group trimethylammonium resin as the most effective one.