Scientists develop nanoparticles to fight heart disease

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Here is some good news for people who are suffering from heart disease. Researchers at Clemson University have developed sticky nanoparticles to fight heart disease.

This is a non-invasive method and these nanoparticles deliver drugs targeting damaged arteries of the heart.

Researchers hope that this advancement could be used alongside stents or in place of them. At present, vascular stents implant is the standard technique that is used to treat clogged and damaged arteries.

The nanoparticles, coated with a sticky protein, latch onto damaged arteries and can deliver a drug to the site in a slow release fashion.

These nanoparticles can be engineered to deliver an array of drugs to the damaged or clogged artery, a common example being paclitaxel, which inhibits cell division and helps prevent growth of scar tissue that can clog arteries.

These particles also have unique surfaces that allow prolonged circulation time, providing more opportunities for these particles to accumulate at the damage site.

The study will be published in the journal Nanomedicine: Nanotechnolgy, Biology and Medicine.

(With Agency inputs)