Cold Atmospheric Plasma Activates Selective Photothermal Therapy of Cancer.

Due to the body's systemic distribution of photothermal agents (PTAs), and to the imprecise exposure of lasers, photothermal therapy (PTT) is challenging to use in treating tumor sites selectively. Striving for PTT with high selectivity and precise treatment is nevertheless important, in order to raise the survival rate of cancer patients and lower the likelihood of adverse effects on other body sections. Here, we studied cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) as a supplementary procedure to enhance selectivity of PTT for cancer, using the classical photothermic agent's gold nanostars (AuNSs). In in vitro experiments, CAP decreases the effective power of PTT: the combination of PTT with CAP at lower power has similar cytotoxicity to that using higher power irradiation alone. In in vivo experiments, combination therapy can achieve rapid tumor suppression in the early stages of treatment and reduce side effects to surrounding normal tissues, compared to applying PTT alone. This research provides a strategy for the use of selective PTT for cancer, and promotes the clinical transformation of CAP.

Preparation of curcumin-loaded poly(ester amine) nanoparticles for the treatment of anti-angiogenesis.

The aim of this study was to prepare curcumin loaded poly(ester amine) nanoparticles and enhance their hydrophilicity and treatment efficacy on anti-angiogenesis zebra fish model. Poly(ester amine) (PEA) copolymer was synthesized in this study. The curcumin-loaded PEA nanoparticles were prepared through double emulsion-solvent evaporation technique. The average particle size of obtained nanoparticles was about 100 nm. The zeta potential of prepared nanoparticles was about 35.8+/-2.4 mV. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated a narrow size distribution with in vitro release profile demonstrating in vitro slow release of curcumin from the PEA nanoparticles. The in vitro cytotoxicity of the curcumin encapsulated PEA nanoparticles nearly had the same tendency of cytotoxic activity in vitro with free curcumin on tumor cells. In vitro cellular uptake of the curcumin-loaded nanoparticles demonstrated in Hela cells demonstrated that this kind of nanoparticles can be a promising candidate as a drug delivery system to cancer cells. The Cur/PEA nanoparticles more efficiently inhibited angiogenesis (in vivo) in transgenic zebra fish model and Alginate-encapsulated tumor cells than free curcumin. No mortality or significant lesions were observed from histopathological study of the major organs. From our results, we can conclude that the prepared PEA nanoparticles are an efficient curcumin drug delivery system for anti-angiogenesis therapy.

PLA/PEG-PPG-PEG/dexamethasone implant prepared by hot-melt extrusion for controlled release of immunosuppressive drug to implantable medical devices, Part 2: in vivo evaluation.

Hot-melt extrusion (HME) plays an important role in preparing implants as local drug delivery systems in pharmaceutical fields. Here, a new PLA/PEG-PPG-PEG/Dexamethasone (PLA/F68/Dex) implant prepared by HME has been developed. Importantly, the implant was successfully achieved to control release of immunosuppressive drug to an implanted device. In particular, this implant has not been reported previously in pharmaceutical fields. FTIR and XRD were adopted to investigate the properties of the samples. The in vivo release study showed that the maximum value of Dex release from the implants was approximately 50% at 1 month. The in vivo degradation behavior was determined by UV spectrophotometer and scanning electron microscopy studies, and the weight loss rate of the implants were up to 25% at 1 month. Furthermore, complete blood count (CBC) test, serum chemistry and major organs were performed, and there is no significant lesion and side effects observed in these results. Therefore, the results elucidated that the new PLA/F68/Dex implant prepared by HME could deliver an immunosuppressive drug to control the inflammatory reaction at the implant site.