A Systematic Study on the Applications of Nanomedicine in Treating Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis

Abstract

Atherosclerosis and its associated diseases have become a leading cause of death in the developing world due to the changing disease spectrum. The fascinating physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of nanomaterials make them a promising tool for tackling enormous challenges in medicine. Nanomedicine has filled a huge application gap in the atherosclerotic field, ushering in a new generation of treatments and diagnoses. It is presented in this paper that the three major application branches (nano diagnosis, nano therapy, and nanotheranostic) of nanomedicine in atherosclerosis are elaborated based on the essential pathogenic contributors to atherosclerosis, and their distinct composition/structural characteristics, synthesis strategies, and surface design. In the following section, state-of-the-art studies with a sequence of representative and important achievements are summarized in detail with an emphasis on the intrinsic interaction/relationship between nanomedicines and atherosclerosis. A particular focus is placed on the biosafety of nanomedicines, which aims to pave the way for future clinical applications. Finally, this comprehensive review concludes by proposing unresolved key scientific issues and sharing the vision and expectation for the future, as well as fully defining the closed loop from atherogenesis to the application paradigm of nanomedicines for early clinical applications. A thromboembolic disease occurs when hemostasis is disrupted and thrombus forms, resulting in vessels constriction and reduced blood flow. Due to the recent rise of nanomedicine, advanced diagnostic modalities and therapeutic agents are now available for the early diagnosis and treatment of such diseases. There are a number of paradigms of nanomedicine approaches designed to overcome current diagnostic treatment roadblocks and persistent clinical needs, such as multimodal nano agents for intravascular thrombi detection and nano vehicles for thrombus-targeted fibrinolytic therapy. As part of this review, nanomedicine strategies are discussed for improving imaging and therapy of acute thrombi by using nanoparticles and nanotheranostics, atomic force microscopy (AFM) to visualize thrombogenic proteins and platelets with the knowledge of thrombosis pathophysiology and nanotoxicity.