Evaluation and exploratory mechanistic analysis; how a novel nano technology increases serum HDL levels by oral administration in mice.

• Project/Area Number: 24890030
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Metabolomics
• Research Institution: University of Tsukuba
• Principal Investigator: SHIMADA Masako 筑波大学, 医学医療系, 准教授 (30637369)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-08-31 – 2014-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2013)
• Budget Amount: ¥2,990,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥690,000); Fiscal Year 2013: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000); Fiscal Year 2012: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000)
• Keywords: 動脈硬化 / ナノテクノロジー

Research Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the most common cause of mortality in the modern society. Elevated serum VLDL and LDL cholesterol levels are associated with a risk for atherosclerosis; thus, the current pharmaceutical lipid modulation has been mainly focused on lowering LDL-C and TG levels. However, this strategy has reduced cardiovascular morbidity and mortality by only up to 25%. Therefore, raising HDL-C levels has recently emerged as a promising therapeutic target for CVD.
In this study, PEGylated and quaternized polyamine nanogel was administered via gavage to examine how the treatment modulates serum VLDL/LDL-C levels. We interestingly found that the nanogel administration not only reduced VLDL/LDL-C levels, but also significantly raised HDL-C levels and reduced atherosclerotic lesions in mice. The oral administration of the nanogel could be a novel therapeutic strategy for treatment of atherosclerosis by raising HDL-C levels in the future.