Research progress in application of cytokines for ionizing radiation injury treatment and its delivery methods / 国际生物医学工程杂志

ABSTRACT

Acute radiation syndrome (ARS) is a systemic disease caused by radiation exposure, which mainly includes damage to the hematopoietic system and intestinal tract. At present, the application of cytokines to repair hematopoiesis and restore the integrity of the intestinal mucosa is one of the clinical treatment. Cytokines related to hematopoietic system repair include granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), thrombopoietin and interleukin-12 (IL-12). Meanwhile, the cytokines related to intestinal mucosal repair mainly are epidermal growth factor (EGF) and fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2). The application of cytokines can improve the survival of ARS, however, there are still some obstacles such as easily degraded and inactivated by enzymes, short half-life and high toxicity in vivo. In order to overcome these issues, there are numerous developing effective delivery systems were carried out, including nanoparticles, hydrogels and microspheres. All of the delivery systems implied obvious advantages in protecting cytokines from degradation, prolonging half-life and reducing system toxicity. In this paper, the research progress of the functions, mechanism and delivery systems of cytokines in ARS treatment in recent years was reviewed.