Intranasal bFGF‑Els alleviate doxorubicin‑induced cognitive deficits in mice by modulating the PI3K/AKT pathway and suppressing oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and apoptosis.

Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI), a frequent consequence of doxorubicin (DOX) treatment in patients with breast cancer, currently lacks effective preventive measures. This work explored whether administering basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-encapsulated elastic nanoliposomes (bFGF-Els) administered intranasally could mitigate DOX-induced cognitive impairment in a mouse model of triple-negative breast cancer. The optimized bFGF-Els were spherical and uniform, with a mean size of 110.8 nm, a polydispersity index of 0.079, a zeta potential of -32.6 mV, an encapsulation efficiency of 87.5%, and favorable deformability. Compared with those receiving DOX alone, mice receiving intranasal bFGF-Els showed markedly better cognitive performance, as evidenced by reduced escape latency and increased platform crossing and target quadrant time (all P 0.05). In conclusion, intranasal bFGF-Els enable efficient bFGF transport to the brain and relieves DOX-triggered CICI by curbing oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and apoptosis through the PI3K/AKT axis, all while preserving the antitumor activity of chemotherapy.

Preparing paper insights from the available abstract and paper details.

Authors

Zhang M; He WY; Ma WC; Yu SF

Published

Jan 1, 2026

Journal or venue

Brain, behavior, and immunity

DOI

10.1016/j.bbi.2026.106983

Paper type

journal article

Source

Pubmed