Effects of EMP on BBB permeability and the application in brain tumor treatment

Abstract

In this study, we firstly investigated the effects of electromagnetic pulses (EMP) on the permeability of blood-brain barrier (BBB) by exposing the rats to EMP at 200 kV/m for 400 pulses. The permeability of BBB was examined by using Evans Blue (EB) and lanthanum nitrate as vascular tracers. It was found that EMP reversely increased the permeability of BBB. Next, we explored the feasibility of EMP facilitating the chemotherapeutics to penetrate BBB and the treatment efficacy in a glioma-bearing rat model by detecting the drug (CCNU) concentration in tumor tissue, tumor size and tumor apoptosis. It was found that EMP enhanced the delivery of CCNU to tumor tissue, facilitated CCNU-induced tumor apoptosis, and obviously inhibited tumor growth. The data indicated that EMP-induced BBB opening could enhance the drug delivery and increase the treatment efficacy of brain tumor.