Design of Microbubbles for Gene/Drug Delivery.
The role of ultrasound contrast agents (UCA) initially designed for diagnosis has evolved towards a therapeutic use. Ultrasound (US) for triggered drug delivery has many advantages. In particular, it enables a high spatial control of drug release, thus potentially allowing activation of drug delivery only in the targeted region, and not in surrounding healthy tissue. Moreover, UCA imaging can also be used firstly to precisely locate the target region to, and then used to monitor the drug delivery process by tracking the location of release occurrence. All these features make UCA and ultrasound attractive means to mediate drug delivery. The three main potential clinical indications for drug/gene US delivery are (i) the cardiovascular system, (ii) the central nervous system for small molecule delivery, and (iii) tumor therapy using cytotoxic drugs. Although promising results have been achieved in preclinical studies in various animal models, still very few examples of clinical use have been reported. In this chapter will be addressed the aspects pertaining to UCA formulation (chemical composition, mode of preparation, analytical methods…) and the requirement for a potential translation into the clinic following approval by regulatory authorities.
Novel agents Department, Bracco Suisse SA, Plan-Les-Ouates, Switzerland. thierry.bettinger@bracco.com.
Thierry
T
Bettinger
Bracco Suisse SA, Plan-Les-Ouates, Switzerland.
François
F
Tranquart
D000818:Animals; D003287:Contrast Media; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D006801:Humans; D045423:Microbubbles; D014465:Ultrasonics
D003287:Contrast Media
Gene and Drug Delivery; Microbubbles