Nanoparticles developed to reduce chronic liver inflammation

Chronic inflammation of the liver can be a consequence of viral or autoimmune hepatitis, eventually leading to cirrhosis or liver fibrosis. In some cases, complications often worsen to the point of requiring a liver transplant.

Some scientists from the Center for Research and Development in Industrial Fermentations (CINDEFI), dependent on the Faculty of Exact Sciences of the National University of La Plata (UNLP) and the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), in Argentina, developed in collaboration with Carolina Medina-Montano’s group from the University of Mainz in Germany, a system of nanoparticles with the potential to reduce chronic liver inflammation.

To treat this pathology, synthetic glucocorticoids such as dexamethasone are mainly used. However, although effective, the drugs in this group usually have many adverse effects when used in a sustained manner over time. Fundamentally, they are immunosuppressive and, in addition, in pediatric patients they can prevent growth and cause intestinal ulcers.

Why does this unwanted effect occur? When a drug is administered, the active component is distributed throughout the body, affecting other organs and tissues. Synthetic glucocorticoids, for example, tend to affect the gastrointestinal mucosa, producing ulcerations and collagen synthesis with direct consequences on growth retardation.

Dr. Germán Islan, responsible for the project, explained: “In order to avoid adverse effects, we developed a nanoparticulate system that allows us to encapsulate dexamethasone. We did so under the logic that nanoparticles tend to accumulate spontaneously in the liver and, in particular, interact with liver cells responsible for inflammation signals. In this way, chronic inflammation of the organ could be treated while reducing the much-feared side effects.”

“To build these nanoparticles, a platform previously developed by the CINDEFI Nanobiomaterials group, based on biocompatible waxes, was used. The resulting nanoparticles (Solid Lipid Nanoparticles) proved to be capable of efficiently encapsulating dexamethasone, without producing hemotoxicity and without interaction with plasma proteins. As an additional advantage, its conservation is simple and allows its properties to be kept intact after a year of storage”, the scientist explained to Argentina Investiga.

For his part, Dr. Ignacio Rivero Berti, a member of the team, said: “In the development we managed to internalize the nanoparticles –as expected– by the target liver cells and retain the anti-inflammatory activity sought.”

Various members of the research team. (Photo: National University of La Plata)

In in vitro tests, it was found that the anti-inflammatory activity lasts up to 24 hours; a major advance compared to free dexamethasone (ie not encapsulated in nanoparticles), whose activity lasts approximately six hours. The finding opens the door to the development of new therapies that reduce the adverse effects associated with the treatment and, at the same time, reduce the amount of dose”.

Those responsible for the research warned that, although the results obtained so far are encouraging, these developments are still incipient, and the arrival of a pharmacological system of these characteristics on the market is a long process that requires in-depth characterization and clinical evaluations in human patients. However, systems based on similar platforms are already on the market, and dexamethasone is a drug with a long history of use, so its transfer to the productive sector, although complex, is far from unfeasible.

The work was carried out by the Center for Research and Development in Industrial Fermentations (CINDEFI) dependent on CONICET and UNLP, and the Pediatric Hospital of the University of Mainz, whose researcher in charge of the project is the Argentine doctor Maximiliano Cacicedo.

In turn, the development had the collaboration of research groups from the Institute of Veterinary Genetics (IGEVET, UNLP-CONICET La Plata), the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Physicochemical Research (INIFTA, CONICET-UNLP), and the Max Planck Laboratory de Rosario (MPLbioR, UNR-MPIbpC).

Dr. Germán Islan is a graduate assistant of the Chair of General Microbiology of the Faculty of Exact Sciences (UNLP). Dr. Ignacio Rivero Berti is a graduate assistant of the Chair of Special Pharmacology and Toxicology of the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences (UNLP).

Germán Islan, Ignacio Rivero Berti and their colleagues present the technical details of their system in the academic journal Pharmaceutics, under the title “Nanostructured Lipid Carriers Loaded with Dexamethasone Prevent Inflammatory Responses in Primary Non-Parenchymal Liver Cells”. (Source: National University of La Plata / Argentina Investiga)