A Novel Coacervate Embolic Agent for Tumor Chemoembolization

作者：Menghui Liu, Yang Sun, Yitong Zhou, Yanlv Chen, Meng Yu, Liujun Li, Leye Yan, Yajun Yuan, Jiayao Chen, Kaixiang Zhou, Hong Shan, Xin Peng · 发表于：Advanced Healthcare Materials · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1002/adhm.202304488 · 被引用次数：20 · 研究领域：Vascular Tumors and Angiosarcomas、Vascular Anomalies and Treatments、Vascular Malformations Diagnosis and Treatment

Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) has proven effective in blocking tumor-supplied arteries and delivering localized chemotherapeutic treatment to combat tumors. However, traditional embolic TACE agents exhibit certain limitations, including insufficient chemotherapeutic drug-loading and sustained-release capabilities, non-biodegradability, susceptibility to aggregation, and unstable mechanical properties. This study introduces a novel approach to address these shortcomings by utilizing a complex coacervate as a liquid embolic agent for tumor chemoembolization. By mixing oppositely charged quaternized chitosan (QCS) and gum arabic (GA), a QCS/GA polymer complex coacervate with shear-thinning property is obtained. Furthermore, the incorporation of the contrast agent Iohexol (I) and the chemotherapeutic doxorubicin (DOX) into the coacervate leads to the development of an X-ray-opaque QCS/GA/I/DOX coacervate embolic agent capable of carrying drugs. This innovative formulation effectively embolizes the renal arteries without recanalization. More importantly, the QCS/GA/I/DOX coacervate can successfully embolize the supplying arteries of the VX2 tumors in rabbit ear and liver. Coacervates can locally release DOX to enhance its therapeutic effects, resulting in excellent antitumor efficacy. This coacervate embolic agent exhibits substantial potential for tumor chemoembolization due to its shear-thinning performance, excellent drug-loading and sustained-release capabili...