Delivery of125I-NGF to the Brain via the Olfactory Route

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Abstract
The blood-brain barrier presents a major problem in the administration and testing of neurotropins as it prevents a sufficient concentration of these potential therapeutic agents from reaching the target areas of the human brain. The olfactory neuroepithelium is the only area of the body in which an extension of the central nervous system comes into direct contact with the environment. Following intranasal administration of 125I-labeled nerve growth factor (125I-NGF), radiolabel appeared rapidly in the olfactory bulb and other brain regions. Radiolabel accumulation in the olfactory bulb of the brain was a linear function of the intranasal dose and of the radiolabel concentration in the olfactory epithelium. Concentration of radiolabel in the olfactory bulb and brain with intranasal administration, but not with intravenous administration, suggests direct transport of label into the brain along the olfactory route following intranasal administration. The rapid appearance of label in the olfactory bulbs, cerebrum, and brain stem is more consistent with entry of label through intercellular clefts in the olfactory epithelium and extracellular transport along the olfactory neural pathway to reach the cerebrospinal fluid and brain than with uptake by olfactory neurons and subsequent intracellular axonal transport. At least 80% of the radiolabel found in the brain following intranasal delivery of 125I-NGF precipitates in cold 5% trichloroacetic acid, suggesting that a significant amount of intact NGF reaches the brain. Preliminary studies using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay have confirmed the uptake of NGF into the brain following intranasal but not intravenous administration to rats. This is the first evidence for noninvasive delivery of unconjugated NGF to the brain.