No side effects
Preclinical studies of radiolabeled microcarriers for targeted drug delivery to diseased joints
Russian researchers have started testing the system of radio labeling of micro-carriers of radiopharmaceuticals for the treatment of arthritis developed by them.
Radiopharmaceuticals with beta-emitting radioisotopes have shown good results in the treatment of arthritis: local irradiation relieves inflammation in the joint. At the same time, the use of pure radionuclides is fraught with serious side effects. The radioisotope 188 Re injected into the knee joint is released from the injection site, circulates in the body and is distributed to non-target organs.
Scientists from St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod have developed polymer microcarriers (MPs) with high biocompatibility, which are almost 100% (≈97.98%) loaded with therapeutic radionuclide 188 Re and demonstrate good radiochemical stability.
Russian scientists have also proposed a technology for the automated synthesis of radiopharmaceuticals with clinically significant levels of radioactivity. This minimizes human involvement in the unsafe process of radiosynthesis, opens the way for large-scale production of radioactively labeled particles, their widespread introduction into clinical practice.
"Studies on rats have shown that radionuclide 188 Re on the developed carrier accumulates well in the knee joint, significantly reduces swelling and inflammation. At the same time, there is no radiation effect on healthy organs and tissues," said the head of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetic Research at N.I. Lobachevsky National Research University Daria Kuznetsova.
According to scientists, the study of an automated labeling procedure can be an important step towards the real implementation of radiosynovectomy using 188 Re in clinical practice.
The research is carried out by scientists from the Scientific Center of Radiology and Surgical Technologies named after A.M. Granov, ITMO University, Polytechnic University. Peter the Great (St. Petersburg) and Lobachevsky University (Nizhny Novgorod). The researchers shared their first results in the journal Applied Materials Today (Postovalova et al., Preclinical studies of an automated radiolabeled microcarriers for radiosynovectomy of inflammatory joint disease).
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