Liposomes were investigated as a carrier for the delivery of therapeutic agents to target brain tumors. We have developed the coating of liposomes with pullulan derivative and compared with conventional neutral liposome. When pullulan-coated liposome labeled with 14C was intracarotidly administrated into the 9L cells implanted brain tumor rats, brain tumor uptake increased 4.5 times and spleen uptake decrease compared with the neutral liposome. The cytotoxity of cisplatin against 9L-glioma cells was not inhibited by encapsulation of pullulan-coated liposomes. The median survival times were 35.3 days for pullulan-coated liposome-encapsulated cisplatin-treated rats and 20.3 days for untreated rats. The difference was statisticall significant (P<0.05). These findings suggest that pullulan-coated liposome-encapsulated cisplatin could be utilized for targeting the chemotherapy of brain tumors, however in order to increase the targetability of liposome to brain tumors, we must have developed the conjugating of liposome with the specific sensory device.
