Making Things Stick in the Fight Against Atherosclerosis

Abstract

Prevention of atherosclerotic vascular disease through systemic risk factor management has had great success, but cardiovascular disease is still the leading cause of death. One approach to this treatment gap is complementary arterial wall-based therapy that inhibits either the trigger of atherosclerosis, lipoprotein retention, or its pathobiological consequences, non-resolving inflammation. A recent paper by Kastrup et al describes a technical advance that brings this approach closer to reality. The investigators have developed and validated a drug-eluting adhesive biogel that has the durability and stability to provide chronic therapy directly to plaques in the setting of pulsatile arterial blood flow. This advance expands the opportunity to develop drugs that retard atherosclerotic plaque progression and promote plaque resolution and regression.