For over 30 years, researchers have been trying to use magnetic nanoparticles for drugy delivery. Now, a research team headed by Dr Nial Wheate from the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Pharmacy together with partners in Scotland has developed a technique to magnetically deliver drugs using iron, gold and platinum.
The study results have been reported online in the Inorganica Chimica Acta journal. The researchers have created a novel anticancer drug consisting of an iron oxide core with a size of 5 nm. Dr Wheate informed that the researchers coated gold over this iron oxide core as a protective layer prior to affixing cisplatin, a platinum drug for testicular cancer treatment, onto the gold coating utilizing spaghetti-like polymer strings.
The key feature of this novel drug is the mobility of its iron core when a magnetic field is applied. Dr Wheate stated that drugs can be exactly directed to the targeted site utilizing strong magnetic fields. On the other hand, drugs can be drawn towards the cancer site by implanting a powerful magnet into a tumor. The team demonstrated the method in the lab by growing cancer cells in plates. When a magnet was located below the plates, the drug destroyed cells that were growing close to the magnet without harming other cells.
In chemotherapies, drugs spread across the body, thus destroying both cancer cells as well as healthy organs, which in turn results in unwanted side-effects. However, this drug technology is capable of reducing or eliminating adverse side-effects such as an elevated risk of infection, low red blood cells, vomiting, nausea, and hair loss. It also shows promise in treating cancers that are incurable with traditional platinum drugs such as prostate cancer.
Source: http://sydney.edu.au
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