Kernforschungsanlage Julich Gesellschaft MIT Beschrankter Haftung

Kernforschungsanlage Julich

Karin Bock

Ulrich Zimmermann

Gunter Pilwat

Hermann J Buers

Hermann-Josef Buers

Loaded cells suspended in a physiological solution are prepared in a process in which their volume is expanded by osmotic pressure. Cells so prepared suspended in a physiological solution, when injected into the bloodstream of a living body are preferentially accumulated in the spleen and liver of the body, which treats them as foreign bodies, even though the original cells may have been cells of an animal of the same species. Similarly by storing the loaded cells in a solution containing substances such as glutadialdehyde, formaldehyde that react with the protein phase of membranes or which, like difluoro dinitrobenzene, react with the lipid layer thereof, the loaded cells can also be caused to be broken down by the spleen and/or liver. Premature release of the contents of the loaded cells is prevented and timely release of such contents is assured by incorporating other materials into the loaded cells during the preparation process in accordance with the related application of the same inventors, Ser. No. 859,240 filed Dec. 9, 1977, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,313, issued Sept. 23, 1980.

Physiological preparation containing loaded cells of expanded volume in

A material capable of forming hydrogen bonds or covalent bonds with loading materials incorporated in loaded cells is introduced into the cells with the loading materials to inhibit the destruction of the cell membranes by the loading material after the permeability of the membranes is brought back down to its normal value. In order to provide for the hydrogen bond formation with common loading materials, such as methotrexate, proteins such as albumin and sugars such as sucrose are effective. The time period during which these materials inhibit a destructive effect on the membranes of loaded cells is well defined. Accordingly, when cells are loaded with a medicament for interaction with substances external to the cells in a physiological solution in which they are placed, which materials have no destructive effect on the cell membranes, it is advantageous to load the cells also with a material having such a destructive effect, such as pronase P, and at the same with a sugar or a protein for delaying its effect, so that the medicament will be released by destruction of the cell membranes after a predetermined time. In this manner, by injection into an animal bloodstream of a suspension of loaded cells prepared according to the invention suspended in a physiological solution, the timing of the release of a medicament into the bloodstream can be controlled.

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Aachen, Germany

Karin Bock