Late Breaking Abstract - Aerosolized gold nanoparticles as a vehicle for prolonged donor lung treatment

Pulmonary specific delivery of prolonged drug releasing vehicles is sought out in the context of lung allograft treatment of peri-donation related lung injury as per aspiration, contusion and primary graft dysfunction. Nanoparticles may provide homogeneous organ selective delivery with quick release of cytokines and/or drugs, although prolonged in time. We sought to study the use of aerosolized gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in absence of systemic and pulmonary toxicity. Rats underwent general anesthesia with oro-tracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation. Non-coated GNPs at different concentrations were aerosolized for 20 min. Rats underwent CT scan of the chest after 24 hours pre-euthanasia. Quantum FX micro-CT system was used to obtain coronal imaging series with respiratory gating. Hounsfield Unit ranges of radiodensity were used for nanoparticle detection and voxel volumes for quantification. Fluorescinated GNPs were also used: lungs, kidneys, spleen and liver were procured and cryopreserved for fluorescent scanning and microscopy. Animals: no complications and full recovery. Coronal CT series: displayed clusters of particles as voxels (Figure 1A) in red and offered a 3-D rendering of the lungs. The nebulized GNPs detection was bilateral and concentration dependent (Figure 1B). GNPs can easily be aerosolized during mechanical ventilation providing lung treatment with good bilateral distribution throughout the lungs.