PLGA from PolySciTech Used in Research on Reducing Toxic Side-effects to the Liver

The liver is a critical organ in the human body which performs several important chemical functions. Many medicinal compounds can lead to damage in the liver which limits their use. Recently, researchers at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill used PLGA (AP018) from PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) to develop nanoparticles and assay the protective capabilities of these nanoparticles to protect liver cells from hepatotoxic compounds. This research holds promise to enable further development of nanotherapeutics. Read more: Yang, Feifei, Yusra Medik, Liantao Li, Xi Tian, Dong Fu, Kim LR Brouwer, Kyle Wagner et al. "Nanoparticle Drug Delivery Can Reduce the Hepatotoxicity of Therapeutic Cargo." Small (2020): 1906360. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/smll.201906360

“Abstract: Hepatotoxicity is a key concern in the clinical translation of nanotherapeutics because preclinical studies have consistently shown that nanotherapeutics accumulates extensively in the liver. However, clinical‐stage nanotherapeutics have not shown increased hepatotoxicity. Factors that can contribute to the hepatotoxicity of nanotherapeutics beyond the intrinsic hepatotoxicity of nanoparticles (NPs) are poorly understood. Because of this knowledge gap, clinical translation efforts have avoided hepatotoxic molecules. By examining the hepatotoxicity of nanoformulations of known hepatotoxic compounds, it is demonstrated that nanotherapeutics are associated with lower hepatotoxicity than their small‐molecule counterparts. It is also found that the reduced hepatotoxicity is related to the uptake of nanotherapeutics by macrophages in the liver. These findings can facilitate further development and clinical translation of nanotherapeutics.”

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