Current Status of Nanomedicine in Vascular Calcification

Mini Review

Authors: Hart C , Painter HB , Lahoda K , Hijazi A and Nosoudi N

Vascular calcification (VC) is a serious condition which contributes to and is associated with a variety of cardiovascular

diseases and therefore contributes too many of the leading causes of death in developed countries. While there are some drugs

that have been shown to reduce VC, they often produce negative side effects due to their systematic and high dose approach of

treatment. Here we discuss several approaches to address this issue using targeted nanoparticles. The nanoparticles produced

were composed of polymers of BSA or PLA, were conjugated with rabbit anti-rat elastin antibodies for targeting of damaged

elastin found in tissues affected by VC, and were loaded with the drugs BB-94 to inhibit MMP activity, PGG to protect elastin

fibers from further degradation, or EDTA to resorb calcium deposits in the affected areas. Micelles, PLA, BSA nanoparticles have

been used successfully and the elastin targeting method were universally successful, and the loaded drugs (both individually

and, in one case, in conjunction with one another) had varying levels of success. Also discussed is a proposed method of

treatment that involves the differentiation of macrophages in the affected areas into osteoclast-like cells to resorb calcification

using vitamin D3 and M-CSF.

Keywords: Cardiovascular Disease; Macrophages

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