Evaluation of matrix metalloproteinases in atherosclerosis using a novel noninvasive imaging approach.

Objective: Despite great advances in our knowledge, atherosclerosis continues to kill more people than any other disease in the Western world. This is because our means of identifying truly vulnerable patients is limited. Prediction of atherosclerotic plaque rupture may be addressed by MRI of activated matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), a family of enzymes that have been implicated in the vulnerability of plaques prone to rupture.

Magnetic resonance imaging of ruptured plaques in the rabbit with ultrasmall superparamagnetic particles of iron oxide.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enhanced with ultrasmall superparamagnetic particles of iron oxide (USPIO) has previously been evaluated in hyperlipidemic rabbits. The aim of this study was therefore to compare USPIO in ruptured and non-ruptured arteries in an atherosclerotic rabbit model.

Methods: Atherosclerotic-like lesions were induced by the combination of endothelial abrasion and high-cholesterol diet in iliac rabbit arteries (n = 16).

Negative preclinical results with stealth nanospheres-encapsulated Doxorubicin in an orthotopic murine brain tumor model.

Previous results have shown that PEG-coated poly(hexadecylcyanoacrylate) (PEG-PHDCA) nanospheres displayed a significant accumulation within an orthotopic 9L gliosarcoma model, after i.v. administration to rats.

Drug delivery to resistant tumors: the potential of poly(alkyl cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles.

Simultaneous cellular resistance to multiple lipophilic drugs represents a major problem in cancer chemotherapy. This drug resistance may appear clinically either as a lack of tumor size reduction or as the occurrence of clinical relapse after an initial positive response to antitumor treatment. The resistance mechanism can have different origins either directly linked to specific mechanisms developed by the tumor tissue or connected to the more general problem of distribution of a drug towards its targeted tissue.

The stenlying effect of high hydrostatic pressure on thermally and hydrolytically labile nanosized carriers.

Purpose: To investigate whether high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) treatment allows the sterilization of thermosensitive polymer nanoparticle suspensions without jeopardizing their physicochemical integrity.

Methods: Application of HHP was explored on a wide variety of thermosensitive poly(cyanoacrylate) nanoparticles, varying by their type (nanospheres or nanocapsules), by their preparation method (nanoprecipitation or emulsion/solvent evaporation), as well as by their surface characteristics. Physicochemical characterization before and after pressurization included turbidimetry, size measurement, zeta potential, scanning electron microscopy and infrared analysis.