From Biomedical Applications of Alginate towards CVD Implications Linked to COVID-19

Abstract

In the past year, researchers have focused their attention on developing new strategies for understanding how the coronavirus affects human health and developing novel biomaterials to help patients with cardiovascular disease, which greatly increases the risk of complications from the virus. Natural biopolymers have been investigated, and it has been proven that alginate-based materials have important features. This review presents an overview of alginate-based materials used for developing innovative biomaterial platforms for biomedical applications to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus. As presented in this review, COVID-19 affects the cardiovascular system, not only the lungs. The first part of the review presents an introduction to cardiovascular diseases and describes how they have become an important problem worldwide. In the second part of the review, the origin and unique properties of the alginate biopolymer are presented. Among the properties of alginate, the most important are its biocompatibility, biodegradability, low cost, nontoxicity, unique structure, and interesting features after chemical modification. The third section of the review illustrates some of the functions of alginate in biomedical, pharmaceutical, and drug delivery applications. Researchers are using alginate to develop new devices and materials for repairing heart tissues that have been damaged by the coronavirus. Further, insights regarding how cardiovascular disease affects COVID-19 patients are also discussed. Finally, we conclude the review by presenting a summary of the impacts of COVID-19 on cardiovascular patients, their implications, and several hypothetical alginate-based treatments for infected patients.

Polysaccharides and Lectins: A Natural Complementary Approach against the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic

“…The brown algae, including Laminaria sp., Macrocystis pyrifera, and Ascophyllum nodosum, but also two genera of bacteria, Pseudomonas and Azotobacter, are recognized as important sources of alginate [119]. Alginates are commonly used as gels and hydrogels, can be combined with other materials for specific applications, are reportedly nontoxic, biocompatible, and biodegradable, and are invaluable in biomedicine as encapsulation vehicles for biomolecules and biologically active agents [120]. In terms of antiviral activity, the alginate gel has been tested against HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and HSV-1 tobacco mosaic virus infection with promising results [47,104].…”

Alginate-Based Biomaterials in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

“…Overall, the prospects for clinical translation of alginate-based biomaterials are promising because of their biocompatibility and ease of modifications [ 48 ]. Some alginate-based composites have been approved by regulatory agencies (such as the FDA) for wound dressings; they have passed clinical assessments and are now available on the market [ 30 , 49 ]. For instance, Kaltostat ® (based on calcium alginate or sodium alginate) is one of the commercial wound dressings in the shape of absorbent gel-fiber matrices with fluid contact, thus facilitating atraumatic removal and hemostatic effects as well as helping to control minor bleeding [ 30 ].…”