Researchers from South Korea and the United States have developed a drug delivery technology that can effectively suppress lung inflammation and tissue damage caused by COVID-19 infection.
The Korea Health Industry Development Institute noted on the 9th that a research team led by Professor Park Woo-ram from Sungkyunkwan University and Professor Saguna Verma from the University of Hawaii developed lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology that can precisely suppress neutrophils, a type of immune cell.
Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that fights bacteria or viruses, but when excessively activated, they can damage normal tissues. When infected with COVID-19, neutrophils induce lung damage. The researchers developed lipid nanoparticles to deliver a drug that inhibits neutrophils.
Lipid nanoparticles are substances containing lipid components that are well known from COVID-19 mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines. The COVID-19 vaccine wraps the mRNA that creates the virus's spike protein in lipid nanoparticles, which act as a protective shield, and injects it into the body. They are spherical particles typically ranging in size from 60 to 150 nanometers (nm, where 1 nm is one billionth of a meter).
The key to this research is blocking neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Extracellular traps are networks of DNA and proteins that neutrophils spray outside their cells to capture bacteria or viruses. When neutrophils are excessively activated, they create extracellular traps that can damage normal lung tissue, leading to severe lung inflammation.
When the lungs are damaged due to COVID-19 infection, medications that inhibit neutrophil extracellular traps are used. The problem is that the drug degrades quickly, resulting in a short duration of effectiveness and inadequate delivery to the desired location, which limits treatment efficacy.
The researchers solved this problem by developing lipid nanosubstances that deliver drugs solely to neutrophils. They induced COVID-19 in mice and administered elaspot, an acute lung injury treatment developed by Ono Pharmaceutical, using lipid nanoparticles. The experimental results showed that the drug was accurately delivered to neutrophils and prevented lung damage.
The researchers stated, "Thanks to the precise delivery of drugs to neutrophils, we achieved excellent effects even at one-tenth the dosage compared to existing medications," and added, "We obtained significant results in reducing damage caused by COVID-19 infection, such as lung inflammation and tissue damage."
This research was conducted from July 2023 to December of last year through the 'Global Research Collaboration Support Project' promoted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute.
Professor Park Woo-ram, the lead researcher, said, "This is the first case that shows drugs can be delivered only to lung neutrophils, effectively controlling complications related to extracellular traps in COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases," and added, "We plan to increase the feasibility of clinical application through international cooperation by delivering various immunomodulators to specific cells in the lungs using the same method."
The results of this study will be published on the 10th in the international journal 'Journal of Controlled Release,' which focuses on drug delivery.
References
Journal of Controlled Release (2025), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2025.113736