Iron nanoparticles into blood

摘要

Tiny particles ofiron oxide can have their surface chemistry manipulated to make them soluble in water and so more useful in medical applications. Iron oxide nanoparticles have potential for drug delivery and as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging, but they are generally made in organic solvents, and keeping them stable and soluble in the bod/s aqueous environment has proved difficult. Yuping Bao and her colleagues at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa found a way to swap the chemical groups originally coating the nanoparticles for groups that make the particles soluble in biological solvents. The process worked best when the original groups were trioctylphosphine oxide and their replacements were poly(acrylic acid), polyethylenimine or glutathione - provided at a ratio of five to each narioparticle.