Ultrasound and microbubbles for treatment purposes: Mechanisms and results

Abstract

The need to improve local drug and gene delivery, to increase their efficacy and safety, has prompted scientists to investigate different approaches. One of the most promising has been the combination of ultrasound and microbubbles, which can act as a local enhancer of this delivery. Even though the exact mechanism has not been fully elucidated, close contact between the bubbles and cell membrane is required to induce pore formation or endocytosis prior to secondary transfer of the molecule of interest into the cell. The literature contains a wealth of papers that have clearly demonstrated the efficiency of this approach in animal models. The clinical effectiveness of microbubble-mediated treatment demonstrated in sonothrombolysis will likely open up new treatment opportunities in refractory diseases or the possibility of developing new means of delivering molecules in poorly accessible tissues, such as brain tissue. © 2014 Italian Association of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.