Several transport vectors, including nanoparticles, have been reported to be used for the delivery of therapeutic medicines crossing the impermeable blood-brain barrier (BBB) to treat the diseases in the central nerve system (CNS), such as traumatic brain injury (TBI). Poly(n-butyl-2-cyanoacrylate) (PBCA) nanoparticles, made from biocompatible material, are regarded as a better potential delivery tool than others such as gold nanoparticles due to their degradabilityin vivo. However, little is known whether PBCA nanoparticles can be used to deliver neurotrophic factors into the brain to treat TBI. In this study, we first synthesized PBCA-carriedβ-nerve growth factor, a neurotrophic agent with a large molecular weight, and then intravenously injected the compound into TBI rats. We found that despite undergoing several synthesis steps and host circulation,β-NGF was able to be successfully delivered into the injured brain by PBCA nanoparticles, still maintain its neurotrophic activity for neurite outgrowth, and reduce the mortality of TBI rats. Our findings indicate that PBCA nanoparticles, with Tween 80, are an efficient delivery vector and a protective reservoir for large molecular therapeutic agents to treat TBI intravenously.
Keywords: PBCA nanoparticles; blood-brain barrier; central nerve system; nerve growth factor; traumatic brain injury.
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