Lu Yuqing, Wang Yan, Li Yize, Li Yunan, Jiang Yao-Wen, Li Jingjing
School of Medical Imaging, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221004, People's Republic of China.
The First Clinical Medical College, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221004, People's Republic of China.
Int J Nanomedicine. 2025 Feb 7;20:1731-1746. doi: 10.2147/IJN.S503774. eCollection 2025.
Photothermal therapy (PTT) is attracting increasing attention in treating atherosclerotic plaques. However, PTT can induce inflammatory responses, in turn stimulating the regeneration of atherosclerosis and hindering subsequent therapy.
In this paper, a multifunctional nanoparticle (Au NR@SiO/RSNO/DS, GSNPD) for the synergistic treatment of atherosclerosis through PTT and anti-inflammation effects was developed. The preparation and characterization of GSNPD, their cellular toxicity, photothermal conversion and targeted ablation efficiency, anti-inflammation and ROS scavenging effect, as well as the inhibition of foam cell formation were studied in vitro.
The experimental results showed that the fabricated GSNPD NPs displayed positive effects on anti-atherosclerosis by pro-inflammatory macrophages ablation, NO production and ROS scavenging.
GSNPD NPs were designed to effectively and accurately ablate pro-inflammatory macrophages by recognizing and targeting to SR-A overexpressed on the activated macrophages of arterial plaques via PTT, and simultaneous inhibit the PTT-induced inflammation through the laser-activated NO release in situ. This match of therapeutic agents and inhibitors not only achieves good therapeutic effects but also minimizes side effects as much as possible, which may provide an effective way for PTT-based treatment of atherosclerosis.
光热疗法（PTT）在治疗动脉粥样硬化斑块方面正吸引着越来越多的关注。然而，PTT会引发炎症反应，进而刺激动脉粥样硬化的再生并阻碍后续治疗。
本文研发了一种多功能纳米颗粒（Au NR@SiO/RSNO/DS，GSNPD），用于通过PTT和抗炎作用协同治疗动脉粥样硬化。研究了GSNPD的制备与表征、细胞毒性、光热转换和靶向消融效率、抗炎和清除活性氧的作用以及对泡沫细胞形成的抑制作用。
实验结果表明，制备的GSNPD纳米颗粒通过消融促炎巨噬细胞、产生一氧化氮和清除活性氧，对抗动脉粥样硬化具有积极作用。
GSNPD纳米颗粒的设计旨在通过PTT识别并靶向动脉斑块活化巨噬细胞上过度表达的清道夫受体A（SR-A），有效且精准地消融促炎巨噬细胞，并通过激光原位激活释放一氧化氮同时抑制PTT诱导的炎症。这种治疗剂与抑制剂的匹配不仅实现了良好的治疗效果，还尽可能地将副作用降至最低，这可能为基于PTT的动脉粥样硬化治疗提供一种有效方法。
