Targeted microbubbles carrying lipid-oil-nanodroplets for ultrasound-triggered delivery of the hydrophobic drug, combretastatin A4.

The hydrophobicity of a drug can be a major challenge in its development and prevents the clinical translation of highly potent anti-cancer agents. We have used a lipid-based nanoemulsion termed Lipid-Oil-Nanodroplets (LONDs) for the encapsulation and in vivo delivery of the poorly bioavailable combretastatin A4 (CA4). Drug delivery with CA4 LONDs was assessed in a xenograft model of colorectal cancer.

Ultrasound-triggered therapeutic microbubbles enhance the efficacy of cytotoxic drugs by increasing circulation and tumor drug accumulation and limiting bioavailability and toxicity in normal tissues.

Most cancer patients receive chemotherapy at some stage of their treatment which makes improving the efficacy of cytotoxic drugs an ongoing and important goal. Despite large numbers of potent anti-cancer agents being developed, a major obstacle to clinical translation remains the inability to deliver therapeutic doses to a tumor without causing intolerable side effects. To address this problem, there has been intense interest in nanoformulations and targeted delivery to improve cancer outcomes.

Evaluation at scale of microbiome-derived metabolites as biomarker of flavan-3-ol intake in epidemiological studies.

The accurate assessment of dietary intake is crucial to investigate the effect of diet on health. Currently used methods, relying on self-reporting and food composition data, are known to have limitations and might not be suitable to estimate the intake of many bioactive food components. An alternative are nutritional biomarkers, which can allow an unbiased assessment of intake.

A study of inter-individual variability in the Phase II metabolism of xenobiotics in human skin.

Understanding skin metabolism is key to improve in vitro to in vivo extrapolations used to inform risk assessments of topically applied products. However, published literature is scarce and usually covers a limited and non-representative number of donors. We developed a protocol to handle and store ex vivo skin samples post-surgery and prepare skin S9 fractions to measure the metabolic activity of Phase II enzymes.