Red blood cell membrane-camouflaged prednisolone acetate-loaded PLGA nanoparticles for kidney-targeted drug delivery

Abstract

The lack of renal targeting and adverse drug reactions are key issues in the treatment of glomerulonephritis. Here, we present the development of red blood cell membrane-camouflaged nanoparticles (RBC-PA-NPs) as a targeted drug delivery system for delivering prednisolone acetate (PA) to the glomerular mesangium. We successfully coated erythrocyte membranes onto PA-loaded PLGA nanoparticles (PA-NPs), and the resultant RBC-PA-NPs exhibited a well-defined core-shell structure with a favourable particle size of 104.20 ± 0.35 nm and a surface charge of −15.07 ± 2.13 mV. Toxicity was evaluated by cell viability assays using rat glomerular mesangial cells, and the RBC-PA-NPs showed good biocompatibility. RBC-PA-NPs exhibited reduced uptake by RAW 264.7 cells and greater uptake by rat glomerular mesangial cell lines than PA and PA-NPs. Biodistribution studies revealed that RBC-Cy5-NPs displayed the highest fluorescence intensity in renal tissue and effectively accumulated in the kidney, indicating their targeting effect. In summary, RBC-PA-NPs are a potential system for the kidney-targeted delivery of traditional drugs to improve their efficacy.