Treatment of adjuvant arthritis using microencapsulated antisense NF-κB oligonucleotides

Antisense oligonucleotides are promising new therapeutic agents used to selectively inhibit target genes such as Nuclear Factor Kappa B (NF-κB), an important transcription factor in the pathogenesis of inflammatory disease. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate microencapsulated antisense oligonucleotides specific to NF-κB for in vitro efficacy and treatment of adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. Oligonucleotide-loaded albumin microspheres were prepared and characterized in terms of size, zeta potential, morphology and release pattern. This study reports significant NF-κB inhibition in vitro after treatment with microencapsulated antisense oligonucleotides. Furthermore, microencapsulated antisense NF-κB oligonucleotides were found to inhibit paw inflammation associated with rat adjuvant-induced arthritis in a dose-dependent manner. Taken together, the results presented in this work described albumin microspheres to be effective delivery vehicles for antisense NF-κB oligonucleotides and a potential treatment for inflammatory diseases.