The majority of drugs do not penetrate from blood into the brain because of the hematoencephalic barrier existing between them. This creates a lot of difficulties for brain tumor treatment. Russian researchers have developed a system for drug delivery into the brain with the help of nanoparticles and demonstrated its efficiency on laboratory animals.

Glioblastoma is the most widespread and the most dangerous variety of the brain malignant tumor. At the moment, chemotherapy of such tumors has little effect due to existence of the hematoencephalic barrier – the filter that prevents alien agents (including drugs) from passing into the brain. Researchers worldwide are working to create medicinal systems, which could be used for glioblastoma therapy.

A substancial progress in development of new treatment has been achieved by a group of researchers from the Moscow State Academy of Fine Chemical Technology , Scientific Research Institute of Human Morphology (Russian Academy of Medical Sciences)  and Limited Liability Company - Research and Production Company “Nanosystem” . The research findings were shared by the researchers at the “Nanotechnologies in Oncology”  conference that took place in Moscow on October 30. Svetlana Gelperina and her colleagues applied the Doxorubicine antitumoral antibiotic. This substance is frequently used in malignant tumors chemotherapy, but it is not used for brain tumor treatment as it poorly penetrates the hematoencephalic barrier. The researchers joined Doxorubicine with polybutylcyanoacrylate nanoparticles covered by polysorbate 80. Such nanoparticles are being intensely studied now at multiple laboratories due to their potential ability to penetrate into the brain. The researchers have experimentally demonstrated that the antibiotic-nanoparticles complex created by them enables to achieve efficient drug concentration in the brain of rats suffering from Glioblastoma. The sick animals that received experimental treatment, lived on average 85% longer than the ones in the reference group that did not receive the treatment. Prolonged remission was observed with more than 20% of rats – six months after the treatment, no further tumor growth was detected with these animals.

The researchers have managed to demonstrate one more important benefit of the drug formulation developed by them. It has turned out that the Doxorubicine-nanoparticle complex penetrates worse into animals’ heart and testicles than Doxorubicine does alone, and consequently, toxic action on these organs reduced in the course of treatment.

Source of information: Gelperina S.E., Khalansky A.S., Shvets V.I. “Chemotherapy of experimental glioblastoma with the help of nanocormial form of Doxorubicine”. Report theses for the “Nanotechnologies in Oncology 2010” conference.

Further information: Gelperina Svetlana Emmanuilovna, Director for Science, Research and Production Complex “Nanosystem”, svetlana.gelperina@gmail.com