New Approach Uses Nanoparticles to Repair Lymphatic Vessels

Researchers have developed a new treatment approach using nanoparticles to repair lymphatic vessel pumping instead of the traditional way of regrowing lymphatic vessels. The findings of this new treatment are published in the journal Science Advances. This approach to repairing the pumping action is different because it delivers a drug to help lymphatic vessels pump using a nanoparticle that can drain into the diseased vessels themselves.

The human body is made up of thousands of tiny lymphatic vessels that carry white blood cells and proteins around the body, the main pillars of the immune system. If they are damaged from injury or cancer treatment, the whole system starts to fail. The resulting fluid retention and swelling, are called lymphedema.

When lymphatic vessels fail, typically their ability to pump out the fluid is compromised. Therefore, a new treatment method targeting the pumping action was the need of the hour. The solution to this problem was nanoparticles.

The Benefit of Nanotechnology for Drug Delivery

The drug the researchers used targets L-type calcium channels that enable the skeletal, cardiac, and endocrine muscles to contract. In effect, the application of BayK throughout the body would lead to convulsions and spasms.

Using nanoparticles designed to drain into lymphatic vessels after injection focuses the drug solely into the lymphatic vessels, draining the injection site. As a result, the drug is available within lymphatic vessels at a locally high dose.

When lymph is eventually returned into circulation, it’s diluted in the blood so much that it doesn’t affect other systems in the body, making the drug for lymphedema applications both targeted and safe.

Tackling lymphedema as a widely prevalent condition for which there are no efficacious therapies was the perfect opportunity to hopefully move the needle on developing new strategies to serve this underserved patient population.

Testing the Nanoparticle Therapy for Lymphedema

Researchers tested the formulation using rodent models. They first mapped the model’s lymph node system by injecting a fluorescent substance to see how it traveled. Then they applied a pressure cuff to measure how the lymphatic system fails to function when compromised.

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From there, they evaluated how formulating BayK in a lymph-draining nanoparticle influenced the drug’s effects. The delivery system allowed the drug to act within the lymphatic vessel, as demonstrated by increased vessel pumping and restored pumping pressure, and drastically reduced the concentration of BayK in the blood, which is typically associated with unwanted side effects.

Researchers are planning to expand the formulation to more advanced disease models to move it closer to human application. They will also explore how it can be used to prevent or treat lymphedema in combination with other existing or new therapies now being developed.

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Source-Eurekalert