Focused ultrasound-induced blood-brain barrier opening to enhance temozolomide delivery for glioblastoma treatment: a preclinical study

PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e58995. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058995. Epub 2013 Mar 19.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assess the preclinical therapeutic efficacy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-monitored focused ultrasound (FUS)-induced blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption to enhance Temozolomide (TMZ) delivery for improving Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) treatment. MRI-monitored FUS with microbubbles was used to transcranially disrupt the BBB in brains of Fisher rats implanted with 9L glioma cells. FUS-BBB opening was spectrophotometrically determined by leakage of dyes into the brain, and TMZ was quantitated in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma by LC-MS\MS. The effects of treatment on tumor progression (by MRI), animal survival and brain tissue histology were investigated. Results demonstrated that FUS-BBB opening increased the local accumulation of dyes in brain parenchyma by 3.8-/2.1-fold in normal/tumor tissues. Compared to TMZ alone, combined FUS treatment increased the TMZ CSF/plasma ratio from 22.7% to 38.6%, reduced the 7-day tumor progression ratio from 24.03 to 5.06, and extended the median survival from 20 to 23 days. In conclusion, this study provided preclinical evidence that FUS BBB-opening increased the local concentration of TMZ to improve the control of tumor progression and animal survival, suggesting its clinical potential for improving current brain tumor treatment.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / pharmacokinetics
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / therapeutic use*
  • Blood-Brain Barrier / metabolism*
  • Blood-Brain Barrier / radiation effects*
  • Brain / pathology
  • Brain Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Brain Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Brain Neoplasms / mortality
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Dacarbazine / analogs & derivatives*
  • Dacarbazine / pharmacokinetics
  • Dacarbazine / therapeutic use
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Drug Evaluation, Preclinical
  • Glioblastoma / diagnosis
  • Glioblastoma / drug therapy*
  • Glioblastoma / mortality
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Rats
  • Sound*
  • Temozolomide

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating
  • Dacarbazine
  • Temozolomide

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Science Council, TAIWAN; Grant Nos. 99-2321-B-182-008-, 100-2321-B-182-010, 100-2120-M-182A-001-, and 101-2221-E-182-002-MY3. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.