Spirulina high-efficiency drug delivery system can be embedded in the intestine to extend the drug release process
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Science and Technology Daily (Hong Hengfei reporter Jiang Yun) On December 13, the reporter learned from Zhejiang University that the team of researcher Zhou Min from the Second Affiliated Hospital of the School of Medicine/Institute of Translational Medicine and the Harvard Medical School Tao Wei team developed a New oral drug delivery strategy.
The research uses spiral-shaped natural microalgae to load drug curcumin to deliver the drug to the intestinal tissues, and uses the spiral structure of the drug to embed the small intestinal villi to improve the intestinal delivery efficiency and bioavailability of the drug for the treatment of colon cancer And colitis and other intestinal diseases.
Related research results were recently published in the academic journal "Science Progress".
"The gastrointestinal tract has a complex digestive environment, and many drugs are easily degraded and inactivated by gastric acid and active enzymes. Certain drugs with fast metabolism or poor water solubility can hardly break through the multiple biological barriers of the digestive system and cannot achieve ideal biological utilization. According to Zhou Min, as a renewable resource, natural active microalgae has low production cost and good biological safety. Its negatively charged surface can be loaded with positively charged small molecule drugs through electrostatic adsorption. The water channels and connecting pores also allow small molecules to pass through and enter the membrane, and the drug loading efficiency is higher.
"The natural chlorophyll in Spirulina has fluorescent properties, and it can achieve non-invasive tracking in vivo without any additional fluorescent labels. Multiple performance advantages make it a potential drug delivery vehicle." Zhou Min introduced that curcumin is a plant turmeric Studies have shown that it has anti-oxidant effects, can fight inflammation and rebuild bones, and has been approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration.
Experiments in mice have verified that the Spirulina drug-carrying system developed by the joint team can quickly pass through the stomach while maintaining a complete structure. Due to its spiral structure, it is easier to embed between the intestinal villi than a spherical carrier and gradually degrade And release the drug curcumin, thereby prolonging the residence time of the drug in the intestinal tract and improving the absorption efficiency of the drug.
"In the radiotherapy of colon cancer in situ, the spirulina drug-carrying system exhibits a synergistic therapeutic effect of inhibiting tumors. At the same time, it can be used as a radioprotective agent to eliminate active oxygen generated by high-dose X-ray irradiation and reduce active oxygen. Induced cellular DNA damage to protect normal intestinal tissues.” Zhou Min said that the study also discovered the potential of oral strategies in the treatment of colitis, effectively reducing the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in colitis mice and alleviating colitis-related symptoms And pathological manifestations.
At present, the team is carrying out systematic toxicity studies on it to promote its clinical application.