Anti-Alzheimer’s disease performance of triptolide nanoliposomes modified with lactoferrin

Abstract

According to the immune inflammation theory of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), triptolide (TP) is a potential drug for the treatment of AD, but it distributed widely in vivo resulting in the multi-organ toxicity. In order to improve the efficacy and reduce the toxicity of TP, stealth brain-targeting TP nanoliposomes (Lf-TP-PL) were prepared with polyethyleneglycol (PEG)-modified and lactoferrin (Lf) as the brain-targeting head group. Compared with TP solution (TP-S), common TP nanoliposomes (TP-CL) and PEG-modified TP nanoliposomes (TP-PL), the effect of Lf-TP-PL on the growth of PC12 cells inductively damaged by Aβ1-42, as the model in vitro AD cells, was studied. The effects of Lf-TP-PL on the behavioral ability of AD model mice were evaluated by Morris water maze test. The results showed that compared with TP-S, TP-CL, and TP-PL, Lf-TP-PL had stronger abilities to repair the PC12 cells inductively damaged by Aβ1-42, and could mitigate spatial memory deficit of AD model mice in a better way. Lf-TP-PL is a potential nanomedicine for AD treatment.