1.Applications of Nanomedicine in Breast Cancer Therapy
Herald of Medicine 2015;(10):1267-1271
Objective Nanomedicine is a branch of nanotechnology; it applies scientific principles and established methods of nanotechnology in healthcare. Small sized nanoparticles exhibit unique material properties. Nanoparticle therapeutic agents can be delivered with minimal invasiveness in vivo,and react more specifically to target tissues.Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women.Its incidence increases every year globally.Conventional therapeutic methods for breast cancer are effective,but have many limitations.In recent years the rapid development of nanotechnology medicine provides new solutions for those problems.There are many types of nanoengineered drug delivery systems (nDDS),each with distinguishing properties, including organic and inorganic materials, for example liposomes, polymers, antibodies, metals, magnets, carbons and ceramics. Nanomedicine may have passive and active targeting strategies. Both can enhance the accumulation of the drug in tumor sites. Specific nanoparticles can also kill or damage tumor cells.As its research advances fast,a wide application of nanomedicine in treating breast cancer is getting adopted.Many agents and formulations of nanomedicine are approved for clinical trials or approved for prescription.
2.Research Progress on Neuroprotective Effects and Mechanisms of Glucagon-like Peptide 1 Analogues in Alzheimer's Disease
Laboratory Animal and Comparative Medicine 2023;43(2):186-193
Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is a kind of incretin produced in the intestinal with multiple pharmacological effects, which can stimulate insulin secretion effectively. Various GLP-1 analogues have been widely used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is closely related to type 2 diabetes mellitus, with some common pathological features, such as insulin resistance, and epidemiological studies also showed that patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus have an increased risk of developing AD. GLP-1 analogues have shown beneficial effects in both preclinical animal research and clinical trials of AD. Therefore, the authors summarized the main characteristics of GLP-1 and AD, and analyzed the mechanisms of GLP-1 in preclinical AD studies of animal models. GLP-1 readily crosses the blood-brain barrier and exerts its neuroprotective effects by binding to and activating the widely distributed GLP-1 receptors (GLP-1Rs) in the brain, affecting multiple physiological and pathological processes including glucose metabolism, neuroinflammation, mitochondrial function, and cell proliferation. Insulin resistance and inflammation are key common pathways in AD and type 2 diabetes. GLP-1 may exert its neuroprotective effects by improving mitochondrial function and glycolysis, reducing oxidative stress levels, exerting anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects, inducing neurogenesis, and inhibiting glial cell proliferation. This paper maybe provide the reference for further study of GLP-1 analogues in AD, hoping to open new therapy venues for AD patients.