PhD in Experimental Medicine, Department of Diagnostic, Paediatric, Clinical and Surgical Science, Pavia, Italy.
University of Sassari, Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Sassari, Italy.
Biotechnol Adv. 2016 Sep-Oct;34(5):768-789. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2016.04.001. Epub 2016 Apr 14.
Indocyanine green (ICG) is a cyanine compound that displays fluorescent properties in the near infrared region. This dye is employed for numerous indications but nowadays its major application field regards tumour diagnosis and treatments. Optical imaging by near infrared fluorescence provides news opportunities for oncologic surgery. The imaging of ICG can be useful for intraoperative identification of several solid tumours and metastases, and sentinel lymph node detection. In addition, ICG can be used as an agent for the destruction of malignant tissue, by virtue of the production of reactive oxygen species and/or induction of a hyperthermia effect under irradiation. Nevertheless, ICG shows several drawbacks, which limit its clinical application. Several formulative strategies have been studied to overcome these problems. The rationale of the development of ICG containing drug delivery systems is to enhance the in vivo stability and biodistribution profile of this dye, allowing tumour accumulation and resulting in better efficacy. In this review, ICG containing nano-sized carriers are classified based on their chemical composition and structure. In addition to nanosystems, different formulations including hydrogel, microsystems and others loaded with ICG will be illustrated. In particular, this report describes the preparation, in vitro characterization and in vivo application of ICG platforms for cancer imaging and treatment. The promising results of all systems confirm their clinical utility but further studies are required prior to evaluating the formulations in human trials.
吲哚菁绿（ICG）是一种具有近红外荧光性质的花菁染料。该染料被应用于多种领域，目前主要用于肿瘤的诊断和治疗。近红外荧光光学成像为肿瘤外科提供了新的机会。ICG 的荧光成像有助于术中识别多种实体瘤和转移瘤，并检测前哨淋巴结。此外，ICG 可通过产生活性氧和/或在辐照下诱导高热效应，作为破坏恶性组织的试剂。然而，ICG 存在一些局限性，限制了其临床应用。已经研究了几种制剂策略来克服这些问题。开发载有 ICG 的药物传递系统的原理是增强该染料的体内稳定性和生物分布特征，使肿瘤聚集并产生更好的疗效。在这篇综述中，根据其化学组成和结构将载有 ICG 的纳米载体进行分类。除了纳米系统外，还将阐述载有 ICG 的水凝胶、微系统等不同制剂。特别地，本报告描述了用于癌症成像和治疗的 ICG 平台的制备、体外表征和体内应用。所有系统的有前途的结果证实了它们的临床实用性，但在评估这些制剂在人体试验中的应用之前，还需要进一步的研究。
