Design and evaluation of lipidic nanoparticles for non-invasive treatment of brain tumors

Summary

Cancer is among the most dangerous diseases, which negatively affects the health and
productivity of patients, as well as societal development. There are several types of cancer,
among which glioma (brain cancer) presents itself as the most difficult type to be treated, owing
to the protective skull surrounding the brain, and the blood brain barrier which presents a
challenge against the delivery of drugs to the brain. Current treatment options for glioma are
surgical resection, followed by radiotherapy and concurrent chemotherapy, however these
conventional treatment modes has led to only 35% survival rate in patients with severe side
effects. With the exploitation of the medical applications of nanoparticles, several types of
nanoparticles were developed, and they exhibited promising results in the treatment of different
types of cancers. In particular, the lipidic nanoparticles loaded with anticancer drugs were shown
to be internalized within cancer cells, leading to their apoptosis. Moreover, several natural
compounds have shown great promise in treatment of cancer, hence avoiding the side effects of
chemotherapeutic agents.
Therefore the objective of the current research is to develop modified lipidic nanoparticles
loaded with an anticancer drug (baicalin), to overcome the blood brain barrier and to exhibit
beneficial therapeutic outcome in the treatment of glioma. Baicalin is a bioactive flavones used in
Chinese medicine, and was recently reported to cause significant apoptosis of glioma cancer
cells. Lipidic nanoparticles will be prepared using the solvent-free phase inversion method for
feasibility of industrial scaling later on, and characterized for their drug loading potential, particle
size, surface charge, in vitro drug release, anticancer activity on U87 glioma cell line. Moreover,
the mechanistic anticancer pathways of the drug and the nanoparticles on glioma will be
elucidated. Furthermore, in order to verify the ability of nanoparticles to bypass the blood brain
barrier, a pharmacokinetic study will be conducted to quantify the amount of the drug reaching
the brain and blood, following intravenous and intranasal administration of the nanoparticles. We
aspire that with the obtained funding, and the expertise of the research team that we will be able
to create a promising nanoparticulate product for non invasive treatment of glioma, hence
creating a solution for this disease not only in Egypt but for the whole world.

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