Iron Nanoparticles

Anemia and iron deficiency are commonly observed in the clinic, especially under certain conditions such as pregnancy, chemotherapy, and chronic kidney disease. The delivery of intravenous or intramuscular iron supplements to a patient must be carefully controlled to avoid toxic side effects. Beginning in the 1940s, it was demonstrated that complexes of carbohydrates and iron oxyhydroxide allow for the rapid but safe delivery of iron. Several different formulations have since been developed and approved for clinical use. These formulations all form nanoparticles that vary in the composition of their carbohydrate shell and the size and stability of their iron cores. The exact physicochemical characteristics of these nanoparticles can affect their pharmacokinetic profile.

Cryo Transmission Electron Microscopy (cryo-TEM) allows for the assessment of several important features of iron nanoparticle formulations. The size of the entire nanoparticle, as defined by the carbohydrate shell, can be assessed directly from cryo-TEM images. The increased electron scattering of iron relative to carbohydrates causes regions of varying density to show up within the nanoparticle and can potentially allow for estimation of iron core size within these nanoparticles. Using a proprietary in-house developed machine learning algorithm, NIS can potentially size both particles and dense cores in your iron nanoparticle formulation. The aggregation, morphology, and size of particles can all be assessed in cryo-TEM images.