Engineering Injectable Anti‐Inflammatory Hydrogels to Treat Acute Myocardial Infarction

Abstract

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) poses serious threats to human health. Suppressing long-term inflammation is a promising strategy to improve cardiac function following AMI. However, the direct injection of anti-inflammatory drugs after AMI can trigger adverse events due to systemic off-target effects and bioavailability issues. Injectable hydrogels can be used for local transportation of various therapeutic molecules through minimally invasive technology to overcome the side effects of intravenous injection. Herein, the anti-inflammatory mechanisms and applications of injectable hydrogels are reviewed to deliver antiinflammatory drugs, antioxidants, immune-regulation drugs, stem cells and their derived exosomes, and therapeutic gas to reduce the inflammatory response to treat AMI. The outlook on challenges in the design of hydrogels for treating AMI is also presented.

Recent advances in smart‐responsive hydrogels for tissue repairing

“…132 The repair of damaged myocardial tissue is a chronic, spontaneous, and multistage progressive process that can be divided into three distinct but overlapping stages: inflammatory, proliferative, and remodeling. 133,134 Li et al 135 developed a pH-responsive and temperature-responsive hydrogel. At 37°C, when the pH of the solution was adjusted to 8.0, the hydrogel could be injected through the catheter and formed a solid hydrogel in an acidic (pH 6.5) environment similar to infarcted heart tissue.…”

“…In addition, the mechanism of hydrogels in various stages of damaged myocardial repair remains to be further studied, which has crucial practical significance and clinical application value for the development of injectable hydrogels for the treatment of MI 132 . The repair of damaged myocardial tissue is a chronic, spontaneous, and multistage progressive process that can be divided into three distinct but overlapping stages: inflammatory, proliferative, and remodeling 133,134 . Li et al 135 developed a pH‐responsive and temperature‐responsive hydrogel.…”

Wet adhesive hydrogel cardiac patch loaded with anti-oxidative, autophagy-regulating molecule capsules and MSCs for restoring infarcted myocardium

“…Myocardial infarction (MI) caused by coronary artery blockage seriously threatens human health and life [ 1 ]. More than 25% of the myocyte population is destroyed within hours after MI [ 2 ].…”

Antifouling and Injectable Granular Hydrogel for the Prevention of Postoperative Intrauterine Adhesion

“…Injectable hydrogel is a promising strategy for preventing IUA because this hydrogel can be constructed in situ via various gelation methods, including physical, chemical, and ion-mediated. − Different from the films, injectable hydrogels exhibit liquid-like properties under certain circumstances, allowing them to be in the gel state and the uterine cavity is completely filled. − Furthermore, the gelation process is an important factor affecting the therapeutic effects of injectable hydrogels. Traditionally, the chemical gelation processes are generally based on in situ polymerization and chemical reactions such as Michael addition thiol–ene reaction and Schiff base amino-aldehyde reaction. , The Michael addition thiol–ene reaction will introduce toxic residues, while the Schiff base amino-aldehyde reaction will suffer from complex operation.…”