Obireddy Sreekanth Reddy, Lai Wing-Fu
Department of Chemistry, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Ananthapuramu 515003, India.
Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
Pharmaceutics. 2021 Feb 28;13(3):313. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics13030313.
The development of combination therapy has received great attention in recent years because of its potential to achieve higher therapeutic efficacy than that achieved by mono-drug therapy. Carriers for effective and stimuli-responsive co-delivery of multiple agents, however, are highly deficient at the moment. To address this need, this study reports the generation of multi-component hydrogel beads incorporated with reduced graphene oxide (rGO). The beads are prepared by incorporating doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded gelatine (GL) microbeads into hydrogel beads containing rGO and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). rGO-containing beads are shown to be more effective in inhibiting the growth of MCF-7 cells via the induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. In addition, the drug release sustainability of the beads is affected by the pH of the release medium, with the release rate increasing in neutral pH but decreasing in the acidic environment. Our beads warrant further development as carriers for pH-responsive and controlled co-delivery of multiple agents.
近年来，联合疗法的发展备受关注，因为它有可能实现比单一药物疗法更高的治疗效果。然而，目前用于有效且对刺激有响应的多种药物共递送的载体严重不足。为满足这一需求，本研究报道了一种包含还原氧化石墨烯（rGO）的多组分水凝胶珠的制备。这些珠子是通过将负载阿霉素（DOX）的明胶（GL）微珠掺入含有rGO和5-氟尿嘧啶（5-FU）的水凝胶珠中制备而成。含rGO的珠子通过诱导活性氧（ROS）生成，在抑制MCF-7细胞生长方面显示出更高的有效性。此外，珠子的药物释放可持续性受释放介质pH值的影响，在中性pH值下释放速率增加，而在酸性环境中降低。我们的珠子有望进一步发展成为用于多种药物pH响应性和可控共递送的载体。
