Nanotechnology Approaches in Tackling Cardiovascular Diseases

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases have continued to remain a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Poor proliferation capability of adult cardiomyocytes disables the heart from regenerating new myocardium after a myocardial ischaemia event and therefore weakens the heart in the long term, which may result in heart failure and death. Delivery of cardioprotective therapeutics soon after the event can help to protect the heart from further cell death and improve cardiac function, but delivery methods and potential side effects of these therapeutics may be an issue. Advances in nanotechnology, particularly nanoparticles for drug delivery, have enabled researchers to obtain better drug targeting capability, thus increasing the therapeutic outcome. Detailed study of nanoparticles in vivo is useful as it can provide insight for future treatments. Nanogel can help to create a more favourable environment, not only for a sustained delivery of therapeutics, but also for a better navigation of the therapeutics to the targeted sites. Finally, if the damage to the myocardium is too severe for drug treatment, nanopatch can help to improve cardiac function and healing by becoming a platform for pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes to grow for the purpose of cell-based regenerative therapy.

Carbon nanomaterials for cardiovascular theranostics: Promises and challenges

“…Nanomaterials have been explored as drug delivery carriers for localized and controlled delivery of drugs to the target site. In cardiovascular medicine, conventional drugs or novel synthetic compounds are delivered to reduce atherosclerotic lesion formation, promote angiogenesis in ischemic tissues and improve the remodelling process in the damaged organs [ [68] , [69] , [70] ]. In the emerging area of nanotechnology, carbon allotropes are considered as one of the cardinal classes, which have gained significant attention in drug delivery applications [ 71 , 72 ].…”

Emerging Applications of Nanotechnology in Healthcare Systems: Grand Challenges and Perspectives

“…Cardiovascular diseases cause millions of deaths around the world [ 18 ]. Various treatments have improved the survival rate of patients with heart diseases but none of them has achieved complete cardiac regeneration, especially for patients after cardiac infarction [ 107 ].…”

“…Nanotechnology products have become increasingly useful in healthcare and have led to the advent of novel nanosystems for the diagnosis, imaging, and treatment of various diseases, such as cancer, as well as cardiovascular, ocular, and central nervous system-related diseases [ 16 , 17 , 18 ]. Nanomaterials integrate well into biomedical devices because most biological systems are also nanosized [ 5 ].…”

Advances in Nanomaterials for Injured Heart Repair

“…Therefore, they have been applied in multiple fields, including drug delivery, bioengineering, diagnostics, and sensing ( Chacko et al, 2012 ). The emergence of nano-gels has greatly enriched and promoted the application of polymer NMs in treating ASCVD ( Chen et al, 2013 ; Grimaudo et al, 2019 ; Prajnamitra et al, 2019 ). For example, Tang et al devised thermosensitive nano-gels encapsulating therapeutic cells to treat MI through intramyocardial injection and showed that the nano-gels protect transplanted cells from attack by immune cells and also provide an environment conducive to their survival, indicating great value and potential for clinical use ( Tang et al, 2017 ).…”