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Updated: Oct 28, 2025

Delivery of Therapeutic Agents Through Intracerebroventricular ICV and Intravenous IV Injection in Mice
Published on: October 3, 2011
Evaluating different routes of extracellular vesicle administration for cranial therapies
Pericles Ioannides1, Erich Giedzinski1, Charles L Limoli1
1Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-2695, USA.
Aim:
Human stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EV) provide many advantages over cell-based therapies for the treatment of functionally compromised tissue beds and organ sites. Here we aimed to highlight multiple administration routes for the potential treatment of various forms of brain injury.
Methods:
Human neural stem cell-derived EV were isolated from conditioned media and administered via three distinct routes: intrahippocampal transplantation, retro-orbital vein injection, and intranasal. EV were administered after which brains were evaluated to determine the capability of EV to translocate into normal tissue.
Results:
Data showed no significant differences in the amount of EV able to translocate across the brain, indicating the functional equivalence of each administration route to effectively deliver EV to the brain parenchyma.
Conclusion:
Findings show that both systemic administration routes (retro-orbital vein or intranasal delivery) afforded effective penetrance and perfusion of EV throughout the brain in a minimally invasive manner, and point to a translationally tractable option for treating certain neurological disorders including those resulting from cranial irradiation procedures.
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