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Researchers from the Herbert
Wertheim College of Medicine at Florida International University (FIU) report
developing a novel technique that uses magneto-electric nanoparticles (MENs) to
deliver antiretroviral therapies to HIV-infected brain cells. According to
Professor Madhavan Nair, PhD, a natural filter prevents most substances from
passing into the brain. As a result, more than 99 percent of HIV therapies,
such as AZTTP, go to the lungs, liver, and other organs, leaving reservoirs of
HIV hidden in the brain.
Nair and Professor Sakhrat Khizroev,
PhD—an electrical engineer and physicist—developed a technique that binds AZTTP
to a MEN that is inserted into a monocyte/macrophage cell and injected into the
body. Next, the team uses a magnet to draw the MEN into the brain, where a low
electrical current triggers release of the drug. Magnetoelectricity then guides
the drug to its target. The team has successfully tested the technique in a
laboratory setting, and will soon begin the next phase of testing.
Khizroev anticipates that the
technique also might be useful for treating other neurological diseases, such
as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, meningitis, chronic
pain, and cancer.
The full report, “Externally
Controlled On-Demand Release of Anti-HIV Drug Using Magneto-Electric
Nanoparticles as Carriers,” was published online in the journal Nature (2013;
doi:10.1038/ncomms2717).
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit:
http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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