Regional EuroTimes
Date Posted 17/06/2009
Cationic liposomes offer novel platform for developing new AMD treatment and monitoring techniques
Results from preclinical studies using an animal model of choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) indicate that cationic liposome technology (EndoTAG, Medigene) may offer unique advantages for the development of future therapies for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), said Hansjuergen Agostini MD, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Freiburg, Germany.
Experience with the cationic liposome platform already exists in oncology applications (EndoTAG-1). Studies in humans show that the cationic liposomes target areas of endothelial cell activation (a critical early event in the process of new vessel formation) and/or neovascularisation. Importantly, they can be loaded with dyes or medications and therefore may provide a carrier platform for improving imaging and also for targeted drug delivery.
In studies performed in mice with laser-induced CNV, accumulation of fluorescent dye-loaded cationic liposomes could be detected in the CNV lesions using an SLO imaging device that is routinely used in clinical practice.
Histological studies confirmed that the accumulation of the cationic liposomes was specifically in the CNV and not in the retinal bed or choroidal bed. Comparisons with standard fluorescein angiography showed an advantage of the cationic liposome-loaded technique for providing a much more detailed image of the membrane.
A study investigating use of the cationic liposomes as a drug carrier for treating CNV used the same animal model and compared groups treated with cationic liposomes loaded with various doses of the cytotoxic agent taxol or its prodrug, the cationic liposome alone, taxol alone, or a buffer control.
Measurement of the area of functional blood vessels after fluorescent perfusion showed it was significantly decreased in groups treated with the cationic liposome compared with the buffer control, indicating the cationic liposomes effectively carried these drugs to the CNV lesions.
Functional blood vessel area was also reduced in eyes treated with taxol alone or the empty liposomes, although the differences compared with the buffer control group were not statistically significant.
“Cationic liposomes have an important advantage in enabling imaging and treatment with the same carrier. The results from the preclinical studies are encouraging, and indicate as well that the empty liposomes themselves likely have some antiangiogenic effects. However, the next step is to obtain proof of principle in the human eye,” said Dr Agostini in a presentation to the 17th Congress of the European Society of Ophthalmology (SOE) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
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