Abstract
Purpose
Pulmonary surfactants (eg, sinapultide) are widely used for the treatment of lung injury diseases; however, they generally induce poor therapeutic efficacy in clinics. In this study, sinapultide-loaded microbubbles (MBs) were prepared and combined with ultrasound (US) treatment as a new strategy for improved treatment of lung injury diseases.
Methods
The combination treatment strategy of MBs combined with ultrasound was tested in a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced mouse model of alveolar epithelial cells (AT II) and acute lung injury. Firstly, cytotoxicity, cytokines, and protein levels in LPS-mediated AT II cells were assessed. Secondly, the pathological morphology of lung tissue, the wet/dry (W/D) weight ratio, cytokines, and protein levels in LPS-mediated acute lung injury mice after treatment with the MBs were evaluated. Moreover, histology examination of the heart, liver, spleen, lung and kidney of mice treated with the MBs was performed to initially evaluate the safety of the sinapultide-loaded MBs.
Results
Sinapultide-loaded MBs in combination with ultrasound treatment significantly reduced the secretion of inflammatory cytokines and increased the expression of surfactant protein A (SP-A) in AT II cells. Furthermore, the pathological morphology of lung tissue, the wet/dry (W/D) weight ratio, interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and SP-A expression level of mice treated with MBs and ultrasound were significantly improved compared to those of non-treated mice. In addition, the histology of the examined organs showed that the MBs had a good safety profile.
Conclusion
Sinapultide-loaded MBs combined with ultrasonic treatment may be a new therapeutic option for lung injury diseases in the clinic.
Acknowledgments
This investigation was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31901383), High level talent project of West Anhui University (WGKQ202001012), Key projects of excellent young talents support program of Anhui universities (gxyqZD2020040) and the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (1808085QH233). We thank Professor Fang Yang and Professor Ning Gu for technical support and for careful help in preparing sinapultide microbubbles as well as in vivo experiments.
Author Contributions
All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported, whether that was in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; took part in drafting, revising or critically reviewing the article; gave final approval of the version to be published; have agreed on the journal to which the article has been submitted; and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Disclosure
The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.