Injectable Hydrogels Could Prevent Future Heart Failure
During a heart attack, clots or narrowed arteries block blood flow, harming or killing cells within the tissue. The damage doesn't end after the pain subsides. Instead, the heart's walls thin out, the organ becomes enlarged, and scar tissue forms. If nothing is done, the patient can eventually experience heart failure. Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania have developed gels that, in animal tests, can be injected into the heart to shore up weakened areas and prevent heart failure. They developed a hydrogel that forms additional crosslinks between the polymer chains after injection. The resulting material is stiffer and lasts longer than a gel without these additional crosslinks and the gels in clinical trials. The gel is unique among hydrogels in providing mechanical support to stabilize the damaged area.
Transcript
00:00:00 After a heart attack, damage to the body doesn’t stop after the crushing pain fades. The heart’s walls thin out, scar tissue forms, and patients can eventually experience heart failure, a condition affecting more than five million Americans. But scientists now report they have developed gels that, in animal tests, can be injected into the heart to strengthen weakened areas and prevent heart failure. During a heart attack, clots or narrowed arteries block blood flow, harming or killing cells within the tissue. Afterwards, those damaged tissues may weaken and pump less blood. The can lead to heart failure, which can progress from fatigue to shortness of breath and eventually death. Treatments include lifestyle changes, medication, implants or heart transplants, but these options often don’t work well or, in the case of transplants, are hard to come by.
00:00:41 Jason Burdick and his team at the University of Pennsylvania may have found a more effective treatment in the form of hydrogels, injectable polymers with a consistency similar to Jell-O. They are presenting their findings at the 252nd National Meeting of the American Chemical Society Different research teams have experimented with hydrogels to deliver cells in hopes to repair heart tissue. But scientists noticed something odd when they ran control experiments in which they injected the hydrogel without added cells: Some of the animals’ hearts still showed improvement compared with untreated animals. Burdick’s team, including graduate student Christopher Rodell, used a minimally invasive injection technique to deliver their specially designed hydrogels without added cells. They developed a unique material based on hyaluronic acid, a type of sugar molecule that naturally
00:01:25 occurs in the body. After injection, this acid forms additional links between the polymer chains, resulting in a stiffer and longer-lasting material compared to other gels. In sheep studies performed in collaboration with Rob Gorman, the gel limited the formation of scar tissue, thinning of the heart’s walls and enlargement of the heart. By preserving the organ’s size, the gels also reduce leakage of blood from one of the heart’s valves. Together, these benefits maintain the heart’s blood-pumping ability and could stave off heart failure. Burdick and his team hope that these hydrogel treatments offer patients a better, minimally-invasive option when it comes to treating heart failure. ACS Headline Science is produced by the American Chemical Society. For more on the latest chemistry headlines, subscribe to the ACS YouTube channel.