Volume 19, Issue 40 2207626
Research Article

Microfluidic Synthesis of Ultrasmall Chitosan/Graphene Quantum Dots Particles for Intranasal Delivery in Alzheimer's Disease Treatment

Fariba Mohebichamkhorami

Fariba Mohebichamkhorami

Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1968917313 Iran

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Mehrdad Faizi

Mehrdad Faizi

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 19919-53381 Iran

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Matin Mahmoudifard

Matin Mahmoudifard

Department of Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Tehran, 1497716316 Iran

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Arman Hajikarim-Hamedani

Arman Hajikarim-Hamedani

Faculty of Medicine, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, 1916893813 Iran

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Seyedeh Sarvenaz Mohseni

Seyedeh Sarvenaz Mohseni

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 19919-53381 Iran

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Amirhossein Heidari

Amirhossein Heidari

Faculty of Medicine, Tehran Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, 1916893813 Iran

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Yekta Ghane

Yekta Ghane

School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1461884513 Iran

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Mona Khoramjouy

Mona Khoramjouy

Phytochemistry Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 19919-53381 Iran

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Maryam Khayati

Maryam Khayati

Department of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, 45139-56184 Iran

Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology Research Center, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, 45139-56184 Iran

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Rasoul Ghasemi

Rasoul Ghasemi

Neurophysiology research center and Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1985717443 Iran

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Hakimeh Zali

Corresponding Author

Hakimeh Zali

Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1968917313 Iran

Medical Nanotechnology and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1968917313 Iran

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected][email protected]

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Simzar Hosseinzadeh

Corresponding Author

Simzar Hosseinzadeh

Medical Nanotechnology and Tissue Engineering Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 1968917313 Iran

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected][email protected]

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Ebrahim Mostafavi

Corresponding Author

Ebrahim Mostafavi

Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305 USA

Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305 USA

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected][email protected]

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First published: 12 June 2023
Citations: 4

Abstract

Nanoparticles (NPs) based therapies for Alzheimer's disease (AD) attract interest due to their ability to pass across or bypass the blood-brain barrier. Chitosan (CS) NPs or graphene quantum dots (GQDs) are promising drug carriers with excellent physicochemical and electrical properties. The current study proposes the combination of CS and GQDs in ultrasmall NP form not as drug carriers but as theranostic agents for AD. The microfluidic-based synthesis of the CS/GQD NPs with optimized characteristics makes them ideal for transcellular transfer and brain targeting after intranasal (IN) delivery. The NPs have the ability to enter the cytoplasm of C6 glioma cells in vitro and show dose and time-dependent effects on the viability of the cells. IN administration of the NPs to streptozotocin (STZ) induced AD-like models lead to a significant number of entrances of the treated rats to the target arm in the radial arm water maze (RAWM) test. It shows the positive effect of the NPs on the memory recovery of the treated rats. The NPs are detectable in the brain via in vivo bioimaging due to GQDs as diagnostic markers. The noncytotoxic NPs localize in the myelinated axons of hippocampal neurons. They do not affect the clearance of amyloid β (Aβ) plaques at intercellular space. Moreover, they showed no positive impact on the enhancement of MAP2 and NeuN expression as markers of neural regeneration. The memory improvement in treated AD rats may be due to neuroprotection via the anti-inflammation effect and regulation of the brain tissue microenvironment that needs to be studied.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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