Title:Reduction of Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiotoxicity Using Nanocarriers: A Review
Volume: 18
Issue: 3
Author(s): Michaela Fojtu, Jaromir Gumulec, Tibor Stracina, Martina Raudenska, Anna Skotakova, Marketa Vaculovicova, Vojtech Adam, Petr Babula, Marie Novakova and Michal Masarik*
Affiliation:
- Department of Pathological Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Kamenice 5, CZ-625 00 Brno,Czech Republic
Keywords:
Doxorubicin, nanoparticles, liposomal, polymeric, protein, gold, cardiotoxicity, nanocarriers.
Abstract: Background: Anthracycline antibiotic doxorubicin (DOX) is a very potent and extensively prescribed chemotherapeutic
drug. It is widely utilized in the therapy of variety of haematological and solid tumours, although its
administration is commonly accompanied with several severe side effects. The most serious one is a development of
dose-dependent and cumulative cardiotoxicity. In the course of time, many strategies have been investigated in order to
avoid or at least to diminish DOX-induced cardiac dysfunction; these include reduction of toxic effect by coadministration
with iron chelators (dexrazoxane), trastuzumab, taxanes, statins, and ACE-inhibitors. However, the
attenuation of cardiotoxic effect is still not satisfactory yet.
Objective: This review represents an overall appraisal of studies concerning with the utilization of various doxorubicinloaded
nanoparticles in the cancer treatment with specific emphasis on those studies evaluating their influence on the
reduction of heart tissue damage.
Conclusion: Introduction of nanoscale drug delivery systems undoubtedly represents nowadays one of the most promising
tools for lowering systemic toxicity. Nanoparticles enable to target the therapeutic payload directly towards the
tumor tissue, thus leading to the increased accumulation of the drug in the desired tissue and simultaneously protecting
surrounding healthy tissues.
