Ye Eunbi, Park Eunkyoung, Kim Eunseon, Lee Jung Eun, Yang Seung Ho, Park Sung-Min
Department of Convergence IT Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), 77 Cheongam-ro, Nam-gu, Pohang, 37673 South Korea.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Soonchunhyang University, 22 Soonchunhyang-ro, Asan, 31538 South Korea.
Biomed Eng Lett. 2023 Mar 13;13(3):417-427. doi: 10.1007/s13534-023-00272-0. eCollection 2023 Aug.
As the blood-brain barrier (BBB) hinders efficient drug delivery to the brain, drug delivery via the intranasal pathway, bypassing the BBB, has received considerable attention. However, intranasal administration still has anatomical and physiological limitations, necessitating further solutions to enhance effectiveness. In this study, we used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) on fluorescent magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) of different sizes (50, 100, and 300 nm) to facilitate MNP's transportation and delivery to the brain parenchyma. To validate this concept, anesthetized rats were intranasally injected with the MNPs, and TMS was applied to the center of the head. As the result, a two-fold increase in brain MNP delivery was achieved using TMS compared with passive intranasal administration. In addition, histological analysis that was performed to investigate the safety revealed no gross or microscopic damages to major organs caused by the nanoparticles. While future studies should establish the delivery conditions in humans, we expect an easy clinical translation in terms of device safety, similar to the use of conventional TMS. The strategy reported herein is the first critical step towards effective drug transportation to the brain.
由于血脑屏障（BBB）阻碍药物有效输送至大脑，经鼻途径给药绕过血脑屏障，已受到广泛关注。然而，经鼻给药仍存在解剖学和生理学限制，需要进一步解决以提高有效性。在本研究中，我们对不同尺寸（50、100和300纳米）的荧光磁性纳米颗粒（MNP）进行经颅磁刺激（TMS），以促进MNP向脑实质的运输和递送。为验证这一概念，对麻醉大鼠经鼻注射MNP，并将TMS应用于头部中央。结果，与被动经鼻给药相比，使用TMS可使脑内MNP递送增加两倍。此外，为研究安全性而进行的组织学分析显示，纳米颗粒未对主要器官造成肉眼可见或微观的损伤。虽然未来研究应确定人体中的递送条件，但我们预计在设备安全性方面易于临床转化，类似于传统TMS的使用。本文报道的策略是实现药物有效输送至大脑的关键第一步。
