Polystyrene (drug delivery)
Polystyrene is a synthetic hydrocarbon polymer that is widely adaptive and can be used for a variety of purposes in drug delivery.
In the biomedical engineering field, these methods assist researchers in drug delivery, diagnostics, and imaging strategies.
Polystyrene integrated solid foams are not commonly used in biomedical applications but have shown promise as a new drug delivery vehicle.
[6] The high surface to volume ratio allows nanoparticles to display properties that are different than their bulk material in biological systems.
[2] To measure nanoparticle internalization, techniques such as fluorescence activated cell sorting/scanning (FACS), inductively coupled plasma (ICP) mass spectroscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), and imaging flow cytometry (IFC) are utilized, each offering their own advantages and disadvantages.
[2] The main advantage of polystyrene nanoparticles is their biocompatibility, which allows them to be used broadly for biomedical devices and the study of bio-nano interactions.
[6] The corona can be defined as “soft” or “hard” depending on bonding strength and surface-bound protein exchange rate.
For example, Ehrenburg et al. have shown that fibrinogen presence rapidly declines with polystyrene nanoparticles containing functional groups, such as COOH and CH3.
These surface-level modifications also express a lower polydispersity index and can create stable colloids in biological liquid.
[7] Due to the emphasis on biocompatibility, Loos et al. have utilized polystyrene nanoparticles as a model to analyze how different surface properties affect biomedical variables.
[7] Overall, it was determined that a strong understanding of surface properties is vital to manipulate parameters such as pharmacokinetics, biocompatibility, and tissue and cell affinity.
[1] In a study conducted by Larina et al., researchers utilized polystyrene nanoparticles in conjunction with ultrasound radiation to influence tumor regression.
[1] They proposed a method of utilizing ultrasound-induced cavitation to enhance drug delivery to cancer cells.
[13] Just as previous studies have shown, it was concluded that the primary factors that influence drug delivery strategies are the size and concentration of these nanoparticles.
[14] This is extremely relevant in drug delivery applications to fine tune specific parameters case-by-case.
In a study conducted by Lim et al., a composite of mono-disperse Fe3O4 and polystyrene nanoparticles were utilized for cardiac myocyte treatment via magnetic targeting.
[citation needed] These materials are attractive for a number of reasons such as having low toxicity, being able to control its particle size, strong chemical and thermal stability, biocompatibility, and degradability in physiological environments.
[citation needed] Since many of these properties are already present in polystyrene nanoparticles (i.e., biocompatibility and particle size), these structures only enhance its effect in biological environments.
[16] Dispersion polymerization is a method of creating particles with similar size with the advantage of being easy to perform and operate.
[18] Saravanan et al. have shown that polystyrene microspheres can be used for controlled drug delivery applications with ibuprofen.
[19] This limitation is important to overcome for the progression of treatment outcomes for diseases such as AIDS and tuberculosis which primarily rely on the macrophage response system.
Many in vitro studies have been conducted to understand how these structures can affect reactive oxygen species generation and cell viability.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and studies conducted by Mutti et al. claim that the chronic toxicity of styrene is 300ppm (1,000 μg/m3).
