NIR-II luminescent nanoparticles based-Theranostic platform for drug-induced liver injury diagnoses and ameliorates

Abstract

Precise diagnosis followed by prompt treatment of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is vital to prevent its progression to other liver diseases, even liver failure. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are recognized as an early sign in the progression of DILI. However, ROS-centric diagnosis and therapy of DILI are still unsatisfactory due to methodological limitations. In this work, a rationally designed theranostic nanoplatform was developed by integrating lanthanide-doped second near-infrared (NIR-II) luminescent nanoparticles with salvianolic acid B and Fe3+. Here, NaGdF4:3%Nd@NaGdF4 with NIR-II emission was synthesized and transferred to the aqueous solution via capping with the amphiphilic polymer, C18PMH-mPEG. Upon loading the salvianolic acid B and Fe3+ complex (Sal B/Fe) into the polymer, the NIR-II luminescence of nanoparticles was quenched through the absorption competitive-induced emission (ACIE) principle. However, ROS generated in the DILI can restore the NIR-II luminescence as the Sal B/Fe was destroyed by the ROS. On the other hand, the nanosystem could efficiently alleviate the oxidative stress of DILI via scavenging ROS thanks to the antioxidant properties of salvianolic acid B. Liver injury-related symptoms, including histopathological biochemical serological indicators, expression of SOD, GSH, and malondialdehyde were evidently mitigated.