Nose spray particle size changes how much reaches the brain in mice
Original title: Particle size-dependent efficiency and mechanistic insights of nose-to-brain delivery bypassing the BBB.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was done in animals, not people. Most findings at this stage never become treatments.
This was only done in mice and in cells in a lab dish.
The short version
Researchers found that one size of tiny nasal spray particle got into mouse brains better than the others.
What was studied. Researchers made tiny fat based particles in five sizes: 80, 120, 240, 360, and 480 nm. They put them into nasal sprays and tested them in mice and in lab dish models of nose and brain cells.
What they found. The 240 nm size reached the brain best in mice. It built up in the brain about 1.7-fold more than the other sizes. The smallest 80 nm particles moved through nose mucus and nose lining more easily. But the 240 nm size was taken up better by nerve cells and passed on better to brain immune cells and glioma: A tumor that starts in the glial cells, the support cells of the brain and spinal cord. Gliomas are graded 1 to 4 by how fast they tend to grow. See the glossary cells. The 240 nm size also worked best in a mouse glioma model.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: The nose may be a way to get medicine into the brain without needles or surgery. This work gives drug designers a starting point for what size to build. Nothing here is a treatment yet.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean a nose spray treatment for brain tumors exists. The work was done in mice and in cells in the lab. No people were treated. No medicine was tested, only the carrier particles. This is early lab science, and it is far from everyday care. It is not a promise of a cure.
Source: PubMed, August 11, 2026 · Read the original
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