Tuning biological system properties for optimized treatment efficacy

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016263150-A1
Application number	US-201615067010-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 10, 2016
Priority date	Mar 10, 2015
Publication date	Sep 15, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present disclosure pertain to methods of optimizing a treatment efficacy of a biological system by tuning a property of the biological system through the addition of an optimizing agent to the biological system. The tuning can include: (a) determining a property parameter of the biological system; (b) selecting an optimizing agent to be added to the biological system based on the determined property parameter; and (c) adding the optimizing agent to the biological system. The optimizing agent can include a kosmotropic material. The biological system can include a tissue, such as a tumor. The methods of the present disclosure can be utilized to enhance the efficacy of various treatments, such as the heat treatment of a biological system exposed to a radiofrequency field. The methods of the present disclosure can also include a step of treating the biological system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method of optimizing a treatment efficacy of a biological system, said method comprising:
tuning a property of the biological system,
wherein the tuning comprises adding an optimizing agent to the biological system.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the biological system is selected from the group consisting of aqueous biological systems, body fluids, blood, solid biological systems, tissues, organs, vasculatures, matrices, and combinations thereof.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the biological system comprises a tissue.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the tissue is selected from the group consisting of human tissues, animal tissues, tumors, tumor-containing tissues, natural tissues, synthetic tissues, fatty tissues, non-fatty tissues, and combinations thereof.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the biological system is part of a subject or isolated from the subject.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the subject is a human being suffering from a condition.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the condition is selected from the group consisting of cancer, tumor growth, infectious diseases, inflammatory conditions, and combinations thereof.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the condition is cancer.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the adding comprises contacting the biological system with the optimizing agent.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the contacting comprises direct application of the optimizing agent to the biological system.

11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the contacting comprises application of the optimizing agent to a subject containing the biological system.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the application is selected from the group consisting of oral administration, inhalation, subcutaneous administration, intravenous administration, intraperitoneal administration, intramuscular administration, intrathecal injection, topical administration, and combinations thereof.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the optimizing agent is selected from the group consisting of kosmotropic materials, non-polar materials, carbon nanotubes, salts, and combinations thereof.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the optimizing agent comprises a kosmotropic material.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the kosmotropic material is selected from the group consisting of alcohols, zwitterionic molecules, amines, neutral molecules, water soluble molecules, water soluble nanomaterials, carbohydrates, amino acids, organosulfur compounds, and combinations thereof.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the kosmotropic material comprises an organosulfur compound.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the organosulfur compound is dimethyl sulfoxide.

18 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the kosmotropic material comprises a carbohydrate selected from the group consisting of maltose, glucose, sucrose, trehalose, and combinations thereof.

19 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the kosmotropic material comprises an alcohol selected from the group consisting of methanol, glycerol, polyhydric alcohols, sorbitol, glycols, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and combinations thereof.

20 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the kosmotropic material comprises a water soluble nanomaterial selected from the group consisting of functionalized fullerenes, functionalized carbon nanotubes, shortened carbon nanotubes, derivatized nanoparticles, and combinations thereof.

21 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the kosmotropic material comprises an amine selected from the group consisting of zwitterionic amines, betaines, glycine, methylated glycine, proline, sarcosine, N,N-dimethyl glycine, betaines, glycine betaine, proline betaine, trimethylamine oxide, and combinations thereof.

22 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the optimizing agent comprises non-polar materials.

23 . The method of claim 22 , wherein the non-polar materials are selected from the group consisting of lipids, oils, fats, porphyrins, aromatic compounds, ethiodol, and combinations thereof.

24 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the optimizing agent comprises carbon nanotubes.

25 . The method of claim 24 , wherein the carbon nanotubes are selected from the group consisting of single-walled carbon nanotubes, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, metallic carbon nanotubes, semiconducting carbon nanotubes, and combinations thereof.

26 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the optimizing agent comprises a salt.

27 . The method of claim 26 , wherein the salt is selected from the group consisting of inorganic salts, metallic salt solutions, non-metallic salt solutions, electrolyte solutions, monovalent salts, divalent salts, trivalent salts, and combinations thereof.

28 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the property is selected from the group consisting of dielectric properties of the biological system, physical properties of the biological system, the heating rate of the biological system, the heat capacity of the biological system, the conductivity of the biological system, the permittivity of the biological system, the density of the biological system, the ionic mobility through the biological system, and combinations thereof.

29 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the property comprises the heating rate of the biological system.

30 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the property comprises the heating rate of the biological system exposed to a radiofrequency (RF) field.

31 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the tuning increases the heating rate of the biological system.

32 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the tuning reduces the conductivity of the biological system.

33 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the tuning decreases the permittivity of the biological system.

34 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the tuning reduces the ionic mobility through the biological system.

35 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the tuning comprises:
(a) determining a property parameter of the biological system; (b) selecting the optimizing agent to be added to the biological system based on the determined property parameter; and (c) adding the optimizing agent to the biological system.

36 . The method of claim 35 , wherein the determining comprises measuring the property parameter.

37 . The method of claim 35 , wherein the determining comprises estimating the property parameter.

38 . The method of claim 35 , wherein the adding comprises contacting the biological system with the optimizing agent.

39 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the property of the biological system is tuned in a selective manner.

40 . The method of claim 39 , wherein the property of a first biological system is tuned while the property of a second biological system remains substantially the same.

41 . The method of claim 40 , wherein the first biological system is associated with a condition, and wherein the second biological system is not associated with the condition.

42 . The method of claim 40 , wherein the first biological system is a tumor, and wherein the second biological sys

Assignees

• Lara Nadia C
• Barron Andrew R
• Corr Stuart
• Curley Steven
• Baylor College Medicine
• Univ Rice William M

Inventors

• Lara Nadia C
• Barron Andrew R
• Corr Stuart
• Curley Steven

Classifications

• A61K33/00 Primary

  Medicinal preparations containing inorganic active ingredients · CPC title

• A61K33/242

  Gold; Compounds thereof · CPC title

• A61K33/24

  Heavy metals; Compounds thereof · CPC title

• A61K33/44 Primary

  Elemental carbon, e.g. charcoal, carbon black · CPC title

• A61K33/10

  Carbonates; Bicarbonates · CPC title