Letter abstract
Nature Nanotechnology 2, 495 - 499 (2007)
Published online: 22 July 2007 | doi:10.1038/nnano.2007.217
Subject Categories: Nanoparticles | Nanomedicine
Targeted delivery of magnetic aerosol droplets to the lung
Petra Dames1,2, Bernhard Gleich3, Andreas Flemmer1, Kerstin Hajek1, Nicole Seidl3, Frank Wiekhorst4, Dietmar Eberbeck4, Iris Bittmann5, Christian Bergemann6, Thomas Weyh3, Lutz Trahms4, Joseph Rosenecker1 & Carsten Rudolph1,2
Abstract
The inhalation of medical aerosols is widely used for the treatment of lung disorders such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease1, cystic fibrosis2, respiratory infection3 and, more recently, lung cancer4. Targeted aerosol delivery to the affected lung tissue may improve therapeutic efficiency and minimize unwanted side effects. Despite enormous progress in optimizing aerosol delivery to the lung, targeted aerosol delivery to specific lung regions other than the airways or the lung periphery has not been adequately achieved to date5, 6. Here, we show theoretically by computer-aided simulation, and for the first time experimentally in mice, that targeted aerosol delivery to the lung can be achieved with aerosol droplets comprising superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles—so-called nanomagnetosols—in combination with a target-directed magnetic gradient field. We suggest that nanomagnetosols may be useful for treating localized lung disease, by targeting foci of bacterial infection or tumour nodules.
- Department of Pediatrics, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, 80337 Munich, Germany
- Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Biopharmacy and Biotechnology, Free University of Berlin, 12169 Berlin, Germany
- Heinz Nixdorf-Lehrstuhl für medizinische Elektronik, Technical University Munich, 80333 Munich, Germany
- Department of Biosignals, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, 10587 Berlin, Germany
- Department of Pathology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, 80337 Munich, Germany
- Chemicell GmbH, 10823 Berlin, Germany
- Present address: Department of Pediatrics, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Lindwurmstr. 2a, Kubus, D-80337 Munich, Germany
Correspondence to: Carsten Rudolph1,2 e-mail: Carsten.Rudolph@med.uni-muenchen.de
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