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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Carbon
Sec. Carbon-Based Objects and Devices
Volume 3 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frcrb.2024.1363919
This article is part of the Research Topic Women in Carbon Science and Technology View all 10 articles

Biodistribution of intravenously delivered PEGylated carbon nanotubes to the rat brain cortex

Provisionally accepted
Gisele Eva Bruch Gisele Eva Bruch 1*Lidiane Dal Bosco Lidiane Dal Bosco 2Arthur P Cordeiro Arthur P Cordeiro 3Marcos F Cordeiro Marcos F Cordeiro 3Sangram K Sahoo Sangram K Sahoo 4Carolina Peixoto Carolina Peixoto 3Marta C Klosterhoff Marta C Klosterhoff 3Luis Alberto Romano Luis Alberto Romano 3Cristiano Fantini Cristiano Fantini 4Adelina P Santos Adelina P Santos 5Daniela M Barros Daniela M Barros 3
  • 1 Faculdade de Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
  • 2 Federal University of Pampa, BagĂ©, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
  • 3 Federal University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
  • 4 Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
  • 5 Centro de Desenvolvimento da Tecnologia Nuclear, CDTN, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Polyethylene glycol-functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT-PEG) have been studied for many biomedical applications because of their unique physicochemical properties. Due to their reduced size and high stability in physiological media, SWCNT-PEG are candidates to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), potentially being used to treat central nervous system diseases that are currently unresponsive to pharmacological interventions because of the tightly regulated permeability of the BBB. In this study, we investigated the biodistribution of intravenously delivered SWCNT-PEG using Raman spectroscopy, as well as possible toxicological outcomes using morphological, histological, biochemical, and behavioral analyses. SWCNT-PEG were identified in the brain cortex, blood, spleen, and liver of rats. Biochemical and histological analyses did not reveal toxic effects in rats 24 h after SWCNT-PEG injection. Also, no behavioral impairments were observed in treated animals subjected to the Morris water maze task. Our preliminary experimental results clearly indicate that SWCNT-PEG were able to cross biological membranes and reach the rat brain cortex parenchyma (but not other brain structures) after systemic administration, without the presence of acute toxic effects. The biodistribution of SWCNT-PEG in a specific region of the brain tissue encourages further studies regarding the application of SWCNT in the neuroscience field.

    Keywords: Nanomedicine, Carbon nanotubes, polyethylene glycol, biodistribution, Raman spectroscopy

    Received: 31 Dec 2023; Accepted: 25 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Bruch, Dal Bosco, Cordeiro, Cordeiro, Sahoo, Peixoto, Klosterhoff, Romano, Fantini, Santos and Barros. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Gisele Eva Bruch, Faculdade de Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.