Study backs ultrasound for gene therapy delivery:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Ultrasound could play an important role in delivering gene therapy to target sites in the body, potentially making such treatment safer and more effective, suggests a preclinical US study. A team from Stanford University Medical Center, California, used an endovascular ultrasound catheter, made by Ekos, of Bothell, Washington, to deliver the gene via either a virus or plasmid vector into the arterial wall of a rabbit model. The addition of ultrasound enhanced gene expression by 12-fold in the plasmid group and by 19-fold in the viral group, compared with non-ultrasound controls, the researchers report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (July).