Liposomes as a carrier for delivery of PGE1: studies in the diabetics rat

The microangiopathy is the first step of every vascular disease in diabetic patients. Numerous treatment strategies have been developed in an attempt to control diabetics vascular diseases and in particular to speed the healing process, including the use of topical growth factors, living human skin equivalents, hyperbaric oxygen, electrical stimulation. Prostaglandins are cyclic, oxygenated fatty acids that exert different functions in many organs. Recently diabetic patients have been treated with PGE1 delivered by liposome, made with phosphatidylcholine and Poly-L-lysine, containing carnitine, with good clinical results. The ability of the liposome to antagonize the effects of the damage induced by diabetes was tested in diabetic rats. The diabetes in the rats was induced by streptozotocin injection (70 mg/Kg), and then 1µg/kg of liposome was injected ip. twice a week, for three months. The glycemia was checked three times a week and 1 UI insulin retard was administered. Control rats or diabetics rats treated with saline has been used as control. At the third month all the rats were sacrificed, The weight and water consumption were measured. The morphology by histochemistry, apoptosis and VEGF expression levels were studied in gastrocnemius muscle, lungs and kidneys. All these parameters resulted altered in diabetic rats treated with saline. In contrast, diabetics rats treated with PGE1 liposomes, resulted similar to those observed in control animals. The results suggest that such treatment can be considered good terapy to ameliorate some consequences induced by diabetes. All the experiments were performed in the laboratory of Nanobiotechnologies Center. This study was supported by a grant from FASE1.