Ratiometric Delivery of Mitoxantrone and Berberine Co-encapsulated Liposomes to Improve Antitumor Efficiency and Decrease Cardiac Toxicity.

Combination therapy is one of the most common clinical practices in the treatment of malignancies. Synergistic effects, however, are produced only when optimal ratios of combined drugs were delivered to tumor cells. Thus, carriers co-encapsulating of multiple drugs are widely utilized for coordinated delivery. Herein, co-encapsulated pegylated liposomal formulation of mitoxantrone (MIT) and berberine (BER) at an optimal ratio has been developed (MBL) with high encapsulation efficiency (EE) and drug loading in order to achieve the purpose of ratiometric loading and delivery. MBL can not only extend blood circulation but also enhance tumor accumulation for both MIT and BER. More importantly, MBL can maintain the originally desired drug ratio in tumors within 48 h of intravenous injection for synergistic therapy. Compared with the liposomal formulation of MIT-treated group (ML), the progression of tumor growth was inhibited significantly in murine 4T1 breast tumor model after the treatment of MBL, as well as a lower cardiac toxicity. In addition, MBL evidently prolonged the survival of mice with L1210 ascitic tumor model. In summary, such a strategy of co-encapsulated liposomes could improve the clinical applications against multiple cancers.

Clinical analysis of pipeline dredging agent poisoning: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Pipeline dredging agents are new household deep cleaning products used to dredge blockages in kitchen and bathroom pipeline caused by grease, hair, vegetable residue, paper cotton fibre, and other organic substances. Pipeline dredging agents are corrosive chemicals that can cause poisoning through corrosive damage to the digestive tract; however, this has not been reported clinically. Therefore, this report emphasises that oral pipeline dredging agent poisoning can cause corrosive damage to the digestive tract and may have serious health consequences. CASE SUMMARY: A 68-year-old man consumed liquor (200 mL) at approximately 13:00 on April 22, 2021. At approximately 16:00, his family found him unresponsive with blackened lips, blood spots in the corners of the mouth, and blood stains on the ground, as well as an empty bottle of a pipeline dredging agent. One hour later, he was admitted to the emergency department of a local hospital. Considering the empty bottle, he was suspected to have sustained severe corrosive damage to the digestive tract and was transferred to our department at 23:15 on April 22, 2021. He developed dysphagia and intermittent fever and experienced difficulty in opening his mouth throughout his hospital stay. The patient's condition gradually stabilised. However, he suddenly developed respiratory failure on day 12, and endotracheal intubation and ventilator-assisted ventilation were performed. However, the patient died after 1.5 h despite emergency rescue efforts. CONCLUSION: Pipeline dredging agents are highly corrosive and may cause corrosive damage to the digestive tract and asphyxia upon consumption.

Effective co-encapsulation of doxorubicin and irinotecan for synergistic therapy using liposomes prepared with triethylammonium sucrose octasulfate as drug trapping agent.

The combination regimen of irinotecan (IRI) and doxorubicin (DOX) for cancer treatment has been frequently exploited in clinical studies, but face challenges in design of efficacious combination drug delivery systems. Here we demonstrate a novel nanoliposome constructed by triethylammonium sucrose octasulfate gradient loading method for co-delivering the two therapeutic agents. In vitro cytotoxicity of IRI, DOX and their combinations against breast cancer cells (4T-1), non-small cell lung cancer cells (A549) and colon cancer cells (HT-29) was evaluated to screen optimal synergistic ratio of the two drugs. The co-delivery nanocarrier maintained the synergistic ratio in vivo, and increased tumor distribution of both drugs (≈2.18-fold vs single drug-loaded formulations). IRI/DOX co-loaded liposomes, with exceedingly high drug-to-phospholipid ratio of 0.61: 1 (molar ratio), exhibit potent antitumor efficacy in the 4T-1 mammary carcinoma xenograft, compared to the mixture of single drug-loaded liposomes (P < 0.001). This co-encapsulated and co-delivered nanoliposome technology offers a promising strategy for cancer treatment.