Hydrophilic Realgar Nanocrystals Prolong the Survival of Refractory Acute Myeloid Leukemia Mice Through Inducing Multi-Lineage Differentiation and Apoptosis

Advantages of nanomedicine over the conventional treatment in Acute myeloid leukemia

Leukemia is a cancer of blood cells that mainly affects the white blood cells. In acute myeloid leukemia (AML) sudden growth of cancerous cells occurs in blood and bone marrow, and it disrupts normal blood cell production. Most patients are asymptomatic, but it spreads rapidly and can become fatal if left untreated. AML is the prevalent form of leukemia in children. Risk factors of AML include chemical exposure, radiation, genetics, etc. Conventional diagnostic methods of AML are complete blood count tests and bone marrow aspiration, while conventional treatment methods involve chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and bone marrow transplant. There is a risk of cancer cells spreading progressively to the other organs if left untreated, and hence, early diagnosis is required. The conventional diagnostic methods are time- consuming and have drawbacks like harmful side effects and recurrence of the disease. To overcome these difficulties, nanoparticles are employed in treating and diagnosing AML. These nanoparticles can be surface- modified and can be used against cancer cells. Due to their enhanced permeability effect and high surface-to-volume ratio they will be able to reach the tumour site which cannot be reached by traditional drugs. This review article talks about how nanotechnology is more advantageous over the traditional methods in the treatment and diagnosis of AML.

Recent advance in phytonanomedicine and mineral nanomedicine delivery system of the treatment for acute myeloid leukemia

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an invasive hematopoietic malignancy caused by excessive proliferation of myeloblasts. Classical chemotherapies and cell transplantation therapies have remarkable efficacy in AML treatment; however, 30-40% of patients relapsed or had refractory disease. The resistance of AML is closely related to its inherent cytogenetics or various gene mutations. Recently, phytonanomedicine are found to be effective against resistant AML cells and have become a research focus for nanotechnology development to improve their properties, such as increasing solubility, improving absorption, enhancing bioavailability, and maintaining sustained release and targeting. These novel phytonanomedicine and mineral nanomedicine, including nanocrystals, nanoemulsion, nanoparticles, nanoliposome, and nanomicelles, offer many advantages, such as flexible dosages or forms, multiple routes of administration, and curative effects. Therefore, we reviewed the application and progress of phytomedicine in AML treatment and discussed the limitations and future prospects. This review may provide a solid reference to guide future research on AML treatment.

Multifunctional Nano-Realgar Hydrogel for Enhanced Glioblastoma Synergistic Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy: A New Paradigm of an Old Drug

Purpose

Realgar, as a kind of traditional mineral Chinese medicine, can inhibit multiple solid tumor growth and serve as an adjuvant drug in cancer therapy. However, the extremely low solubility and poor body absorptive capacity limit its application in clinical medicine. To overcome this therapeutic hurdle, realgar can here be fabricated into a nano-realgar hydrogel with enhanced chemotherapy and radiotherapy (RT) ability. Our objective is to evaluate the superior biocompatibility and anti-tumor activity of nano-realgar hydrogel.

Methods

We have successfully synthesized nano-realgar quantum dots (QDs) coupling with 6-AN molecules (NRA QDs) and further encapsulated with a pH-sensitive dextran hydrogel carrier with hyaluronic acid coating (DEX-HA gel) to promote bioavailability, eventually forming a multifunctional nano-realgar hydrogel (NRA@DH Gel). To better investigate the tumor therapy efficiency of the NRA@DH Gel, we have established the mice in situ bearing GL261 brain glioblastoma as animal models assigned to receive intratumor injection of NRA@DH Gel.

Results

The designed NRA@DH Gel as an antitumor drug can not only exert the prominent chemotherapy effect but also as a "sustainable reactive oxygen species (ROS) generator" can inhibit in the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) metabolism and reduce the production of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), thereby inhibiting the conversion of glutathione disulfide (GSSG) to glutathione (GSH), reducing GSH concentrations in tumor cells, triggering the accumulation of ROS, and finally enhancing the effectiveness of RT.

Conclusion

Through the synergistic effect of chemotherapy and RT, NRA@DH Gel effectively inhibited the proliferation and migration of tumor cells, suppressed tumor growth, improved motor coordination, and prolonged survival in tumor-bearing mice. Our work aims to improve the NRA@DH Gel-mediated synergistic chemotherapy and RT will endow a "promising future" for the old drug in clinically comprehensive applications.