Gonzalez-Calle Alejandra, Li Runze, Asante Isaac, Martinez-Camarillo Juan Carlos, Louie Stan, Zhou Qifa, Humayun Mark S
USC Ginsburg Institute for Biomedical Therapeutics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles California, USA.
USC Roski Eye Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles California, USA.
BME Front. 2022 Jun 8;2022:9840678. doi: 10.34133/2022/9840678. eCollection 2022.
The purpose of this study is to develop a method for delivering antiinflammatory agents of high molecular weight (e.g., Avastin) into the posterior segment that does not require injections into the eye (i.e., intravitreal injections; IVT). Diseases affecting the posterior segment of the eye are currently treated with monthly to bimonthly intravitreal injections, which can predispose patients to severe albeit rare complications like endophthalmitis, retinal detachment, traumatic cataract, and/or increased intraocular. In this study, we show that one time moderate intensity focused ultrasound (MIFU) treatment can facilitate the penetration of large molecules across the scleral barrier, showing promising evidence that this is a viable method to deliver high molecular weight medications not invasively. To validate the efficacy of the drug delivery system, IVT injections of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were used to create an animal model of retinopathy. The creation of this model allowed us to test anti-VEGF medications and evaluate the efficacy of the treatment. In vivo testing showed that animals treated with our MIFU device improved on the retinal tortuosity and clinical dilation compared to the control group while evaluating fluorescein angiogram (FA) Images.
本研究的目的是开发一种将高分子量抗炎剂（如阿瓦斯汀）输送到眼后段的方法，该方法无需向眼内注射（即玻璃体内注射；IVT）。目前，影响眼后段的疾病通过每月至每两个月进行一次玻璃体内注射来治疗，这可能使患者易患严重但罕见的并发症，如眼内炎、视网膜脱离、外伤性白内障和/或眼压升高。在本研究中，我们表明，一次中等强度聚焦超声（MIFU）治疗可以促进大分子穿过巩膜屏障，这表明这是一种无创输送高分子量药物的可行方法，证据很有前景。为了验证药物输送系统的有效性，使用玻璃体内注射血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）来创建视网膜病变动物模型。该模型的建立使我们能够测试抗VEGF药物并评估治疗效果。体内测试表明，在评估荧光素血管造影（FA）图像时，与对照组相比，用我们的MIFU设备治疗的动物在视网膜迂曲和临床扩张方面有所改善。
