Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:29:3
Ayinde O. Chase - AHN Editor
West Lafayette, IN (AHN) - Drugs encased inside tiny balls may soon be used to fix spinal injuries.
Purdue University researchers have discovered a new approach for repairing damaged nerve fibers in spinal cord injuries using nano-spheres that could be injected into the blood shortly after an accident. The synthetic "copolymer micelles" are drug-delivery spheres roughly 100 times smaller than the diameter of a red blood cell.
Researchers seeking ways to deliver drugs for cancer treatment and other therapies found medications could be stored in the spheres and transported directly to diseased or damaged tissue.
The micelles themselves repair damaged fibers that transmit electrical impulses in the spinal cord, investigators said.
"That was a very surprising discovery," said Ji-Xin Cheng, an associate professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Chemistry. "Micelles have been used for 30 years as drug-delivery vehicles in research, but no one has ever used them directly as a medicine."
The micelles might be used instead of more conventional "membrane sealing agents." Because of their size they are not quickly filtered by the kidney or captured by the liver, enabling them to remain in the bloodstream long enough to circulate to damaged tissues. Initial findings show that micelles might be used to rejuvenate axon membranes damaged by compression injuries, a common type of spine injury.
Continuing research using the process has shown favorable results with animals that have spinal cord injuries.
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