Drugs targeting the kidneys are naturally difficult to develop because kidneys filter things out and send them out for disposal (filtration, reabsorption, secretion, and excretion). Moreover, the liver also helps keep foreign objects out of the body. Now researchers at the University of California have created nanoparticles that are designed to get into the kidneys and stay there.
They’re made of peptides, chains of amino acids, and because the nanoparticles are so small, they can pass the first main filter of the kidneys that removes large objects. While moving on through the kidneys’ filtration process, the nanoparticles have time to release any cargo they’re carrying, but this is yet to be properly tried.
So far the researchers have shown in mice that the nanoparticles do indeed make it into the kidneys and stay there, significantly more so than in other parts of the body. Moreover, the nanoparticles eventually break down and completely leave the system without any noticeable side effects.
Though there’s a great deal more work to be done, this research may help lead to a whole array of new drugs that can help address kidney diseases that currently have poor treatment options.
Study in journal Nano Research: Design and in vivo characterization of kidney-targeting multimodal micelles for renal drug delivery…
Via: USC…