Remote-controllable bone-targeted delivery of estradiol for the treatment of ovariectomy-induced osteoporosis in rats

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis (OP) is a systemic skeletal disease marked by bone mass reduction and bone tissue destruction. Hormone replacement therapy is an effective treatment for post-menopausal OP, but estrogen has poor tissue selectivity and severe side effects. RESULTS: In this study, we constructed a poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs)-based drug delivery system to co-load 17β estradiol (E(2)) and iron oxide (Fe(3)O(4)) together, modified with alendronate (AL) to achieve bone targeting and realize a magnetically remote-controllable drug release. The NPs were fabricated through the emulsion solvent diffusion method. The particle size was approximately 200 nm while the encapsulation efficiency of E(2) was 58.34 ± 9.21%. The NPs were found to be spherical with a homogenous distribution of particle size. The NPs showed good stability, good biocompatibility, high encapsulation ability of E(2) and excellent magnetic properties. The NPs could be effectively taken up by Raw 264.7 cells and were effective in enriching drugs in bone tissue. The co-loaded NPs exposed to an external magnetic field ameliorated OVX-induced bone loss through increased BV/TV, decreased Tb.N and Tb.Sp, improved bone strength, increased PINP and OC, and downregulated CTX and TRAP-5b. The haematological index and histopathological analyses displayed the NPs had less side effects on non-skeletal tissues. CONCLUSIONS: This study presented a remote-controlled release system based on bone-targeted multifunctional NPs and a new potential approach to bone-targeted therapy of OP. GRAPHIC ABSTRACT: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12951-021-00976-4.