"Heart scar" is bad, there is a way!

The repair effect mode of strontium ion composite hydrogel on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury

The incidence and fatality rate of acute myocardial infarction is on the rise in our country.

Yang Huangtian describes this fibrous scar caused by myocardial cell damage and volume reduction as a "heart scar", "the effect on the heart is permanent.

Yang Huangtian and Chang Jiang, a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, thought about whether it is possible to reduce "heart scars" or even no longer have "heart scars" by promoting angiogenesis, reversing the reduction of myocardial cell volume.

Another way

Chang Jiang told the Chinese Journal of Science that this solution is to use a degradable hydrogel that releases active strontium ions to improve the survival of myocardial cells after myocardial ischemia/reperfusion, promote angiogenesis, and restore the damaged heart function and heart function.

At present, there is a lack of effective intervention methods for myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury.

The core of their solution is to revolve around strontium ions, and this idea is a bit "alternative".

When he first came into contact with strontium, Yang Huangtian, who was a medical student, also took various "make-up lessons".

Now, it has become a consensus that strontium ions can promote angiogenesis in promoting bone regeneration.

Chang Jiang is an expert in the study of tissue regeneration and damage repair materials, drug slow-release materials, and the interaction of biological materials with cells, and he is familiar with strontium.

However, the two research groups Yang Huangtian and Chang Jiang thought that since strontium preparations have been used to prevent and treat osteoporosis, if it is beneficial to damage the heart, it is easier to be used clinically to benefit people with heart disease.

Twists and turns

The progress of scientific research is often not smooth sailing.

In the beginning, the research team conducted experiments on strontium ions in cells in vitro and found that it does activate vascular cells, but cells in vitro and in vivo are different after all.

So they discussed that they could try to make a hydrogel to fix the strontium ions and let it slowly release to maintain a certain concentration.

Yang Huangtian told the Chinese Journal of Science that they injected strontium ion composite hydrogel after myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (60 minutes/20 minutes) in mice, which can significantly improve the heart of mice after one month of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion.

The researchers further analyzed and found that the strontium ion level in the mouse heart gradually decreased one month after the injection, but within two weeks, the strontium ion in the mouse heart remained at a high level and did not accumulate in the liver, kidney, or lung organs.

It is worth mentioning that the strontium ion composite hydrogel can be degraded two weeks after transplantation.

In this way, the research team designed and prepared a composite hydrogel with injectability, degradability, and slow release of strontium ions at a suitable concentration.
As Yang Huangtian said, scientific research means continuous exploration, trial and error, and gradual advancement.

Pay more attention

If acute myocardial infarction is not opened in time to avoid the blood vessels and restore blood supply, the severe cases will die, and the mild cases will have serious sequelae.

Yang Huangtian explained to the China Science Daily that if a large area of ​​the "main road" for blood supply to the heart is blocked, the absence of treatment means that the cardiomyocytes in the blocked area are gone, and there is no "person" to "work.
" If this is the case, the "workload" of the cells around the infarct area will increase, overwork for a long time, work efficiency will decrease, and heart failure or heart failure will occur.

However, once the blood supply is restored, it will bring new damage to the cardiomyocytes, which will partially offset the effect of reperfusion therapy.
Therefore, patients are in urgent need of specialized drugs that can combat myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury.

It is undeniable that this solution of the research team is still far from clinical application.
Yang Huangtian said: "The research findings on small animals need to be verified in large animals, and a systematic safety assessment must be passed before entering clinical trials; if it enters the market as a drug, it needs to be approved, especially for the creation of cardiac drugs.
"

Chang Jiang said that scientific research is advancing step by step, and each step has a strict process.
Their goal is to apply safer and more efficient treatments to the clinic.

"From the perspective of strontium ions that have been used in the treatment of bone injury, the problem of its safety may be easier to solve.
" Yang Huangtian said.

Yang Huangtian hopes to avoid the occurrence of myocardial infarction from the "source".
"After one year of treatment for patients with myocardial infarction, about 20% of patients will develop heart failure, which is very harmful.
" She further explained that patients with severe heart failure are severely restricted in activity, and the five-year survival rate is only 50%.

"If the coronary arteries of the heart are compared to rivers, through scientific and reasonable diet, exercise, and working methods, the narrowing of the rivers can be avoided, or even if some of the rivers are blocked, the vitality of the tributaries can be continuously improved.
Fresh blood is injected into the heart.
" Yang Huangtian said.
(Source: Qin Zhiwei, Chinese Science News)

Related paper information: sciencemag.
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1126/sciadv.
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