Preparation of nanobubbles for ultrasound imaging and intracelluar drug delivery

Int J Pharm. 2010 Jan 15;384(1-2):148-53. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2009.09.027. Epub 2009 Sep 23.

Abstract

Echogenic bubble formulations have wide applications in both disease diagnosis and therapy. In the current study, nanobubbles were prepared and the contrast agent function was evaluated in order to study the nanosized bubble's property for ultrasonic imaging. Coumarin-6 as a model drug was loaded into nanobubbles to investigate the drug delivery potential to cells. The results showed that the nanobubbles composed of 1% of Tween 80, and 3 mg/ml of lipid worked well as an ultrasonic contrast agent by presenting a contrast effect in the liver region in vivo. The drug-loaded nanobubbles could enhance drug delivery to cells significantly, and the process was analyzed by sigmoidally fitting the pharmacokinetic curve. It can be concluded that the nanobubble formulation is a promising approach for both ultrasound imaging and drug delivery enhancing.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Drug Delivery Systems / methods*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Intracellular Fluid* / drug effects
  • Intracellular Fluid* / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Mice, Nude
  • Microbubbles*
  • Microscopy, Acoustic / methods*
  • Nanocapsules / chemistry
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations / administration & dosage
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations / chemical synthesis*
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations / metabolism

Substances

  • Nanocapsules
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations