Sci Adv: The Zhou Min team of Zhejiang University uses Spirulina as a drug delivery vehicle for the treatment of colon cancer and colitis

Oral administration is the first and most commonly used route of administration for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, mainly due to its high safety, high patient compliance, convenience and ease of production
.

However, oral administration still has many challenges.

In order to improve the efficacy of oral administration, researchers have designed a variety of drug carriers for oral administration systems, such as: liposomes, dendrimers, micelles, polymer conjugates, polymer nanoparticles, silicon or carbon material and a metal magnetic nanoparticles and the like
.

Generally, these candidate drug carriers achieve their complex functions through complex design, synthesis, and construction processes, and optimize their physical and chemical properties, so that they can be used for drug delivery and therapeutic diagnostic applications
.

However, these carriers face many important problems, such as the technical challenges brought about by the complex synthesis process, high cost and low efficiency

On November 24, 2021, Zhou Min's team from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine/Institute of Translational Medicine and Tao Wei's team from Harvard Medical School published the title: Orally deliverable strategy based on microalgal biomass for intestinal in Science Advances.
Research papers on disease treatment
.

This paper is also the cover paper of the current issue

The study used Spirulina platensis, a natural active microalgae, as a drug carrier for curcumin, and constructed a drug delivery system for the treatment of colon cancer and colitis, two intestinal diseases-SP@Curcumin, in the intestine It also shows excellent anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory effects in the treatment of tract diseases
.

In the radiotherapy of colon cancer, SP@Curcumin can be combined with chemotherapy and radiotherapy to inhibit tumor progression, and at the same time as a radioprotective agent to eliminate high-dose X-ray radiation-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) in healthy tissues, thereby reducing DNA damage
.

SP@Curcumin can also reduce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, thereby exerting an anti-inflammatory effect on colitis

As a kind of natural microalgae, spirulina has extremely high nutritional value and good biological safety, and can be made into a nutritional supplement for the human body
.

Not only that, the negatively charged surface of Spirulina can be loaded with positively charged small molecule drugs through electrostatic adsorption.

Curcumin is the active ingredient of Curcuma longa (Curcuma longa L.
) in the ginger family
.

It has a history of medicinal use in China for hundreds of years .

In this study, spirulina was loaded with curcumin (SP@Curcumin), which can pass through the stomach intact while keeping the structure intact, and then be captured by the intestinal villi and gradually degrade and release curcumin in the intestinal tract.
Realize ideal drug distribution without causing adverse reactions
.

In the traditional radiotherapy treatment model of colon cancer, SP@Curcumin uses a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to inhibit tumor progression, showing a synergistic therapeutic effect
.

At the same time, SP@Curcumin also eliminates the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in normal cells, reduces the DNA damage it induces, and protects normal intestinal tissues during radiotherapy

In addition to its application in cancer treatment, the research team also demonstrated the anti-inflammatory ability of SP@Curcumin in the intestine, which reduced the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and alleviated inflammation-related symptoms in mice with colitis

In general, the study proposes a multifunctional drug delivery system SP@Curcumin, which can bypass physiological barriers and improve drug properties (such as oral bioavailability, biodegradation, and biocompatibility).

The second affiliated hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine/Institute of Translational Medicine doctoral student Zhong Danni, doctoral student Zhang Dongxiao, and the Harvard Medical School Brigham and Women's Hospital Chen Wei are the co-first authors.
The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine/Institute of Translational Medicine Zhou Min and Tao Wei from Harvard Medical School Brigham and Women's Hospital are the co-corresponding authors
.

Original source:

Original source:

DANNI ZHONG, et al.
Orally deliverable strategy based on microalgal biomass for intestinal disease treatment .
SCIENCE ADVANCES, 24 Nov 2021, Vol 7, Issue 48.
DOI: 10.
1126/sciadv.
abi9265.

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