ISSUE BEING ADDRESSED
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading global cause of death, causing 17.9 million deaths (31%) in 2016. In Europe, CVD cause more than 3.8 million deaths every year, being ischemic heart disease alone responsible for 1.7 million deaths. Furthermore, 36% of myocardial infarction (MI) survivors will have an increased risk of developing heart failure. Despite the state-of-the-art application of emergency coronary revascularization (reperfusion) to patients with acute MI, mortality and morbidity have remained substantial. To date, the conventional therapeutics only ameliorate the state of care of MI patients, and no approved therapy has been developed for heart scars. Promising approaches might come based on the latest knowledge on new pathophysiological concepts, e.g. on the inflammation and immune responses upon MI. The inflammatory phase on MI presents itself as a therapeutic opportunity, with immunomodulation for heart regeneration showing great promise for MI treatment.
IMPORTANCE FOR SOCIETY
The development of a therapeutic capable of not only ameliorate the state of care of MI patients but also to induce restoration of functional cardiac tissue, would improve the quality of life of MI patients and diminish mortality and morbidity associated to MI. Additionally, it would reduce the economic burden associated to the healthcare strategies applied to MI patients.
OVERALL OBJECTIVES
The main aim of the project was to answer the question if it is possible to modulate the immune system to regulate inflammation and promote heart regeneration through a non-invasive approach. To this end, in this project, it was developed a novel and unique biodegradable non-invasive microneedle (MN)-assisted nanovector skin patch, loaded with nanoparticles and immunomodulatory (cytokines) cargos. The MN-patch approach would deliver the cargos into the dermal layer of the skin, a reservoir of immune cells, and revolutionize the way to regulate the inflammatory systemic immune response upon cardiac ischemia.
