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Background—The noninvasive, tissue-specific delivery of therapeutic agents to the heart would be a valuable clinical tool. This study addressed the hypothesis that albumin-coated microbubbles could be used to effectively deliver an adenoviral transgene to rat myocardium by ultrasound-mediated microbubble destruction.

Methods and Results—Recombinant adenovirus containing β-galactosidase and driven by a constitutive promoter was attached to the surface of albumin-coated, perfluoropropane-filled microbubbles. These bubbles were infused into the jugular vein of rats with or without simultaneous echocardiography. Additional controls included ultrasound of microbubbles that did not contain virus, virus alone, and virus plus ultrasound. One group underwent ultrasound-mediated destruction of microbubbles followed by adenovirus infusion. Rats were killed after 4 days and examined for β-galactosidase …