Intelligent and Programmable Natural Drug based Eluting System for Coronary Heart Disease

Abstract

The Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The main cause of CVDs is the abnormal activation of biomechanical and biochemical reactions leading to the development of atherosclerosis. Currently, drug eluting stent is the attractive treatment option available to treat the CVDs, but improvements are still needed to further reduce the incidence of in-stent restenosis and stent thrombosis. Therefore, the present research focuses on developing novel natural drug loaded polymeric coatings for the application of coronary stents. For this purpose, different molecular weights of poly-vinyl alcohol were used as drug carriers, and natural therapeutic agents, curcumin, magnolol and ginger, were chosen as drugs. The polymer and drug loaded films were initially synthesized using the solvent casting method followed by extensive in-vitro analysis, including drug release, degradation, antioxidant, anti-platelet, clot lysis, anti-coagulation, and hemolytic activity. The in-vitro testing was done to assess the effect of drug and polymer interactions on the pharmaceutical properties of the drug, the release profile and the degradation behavior of the polymer. Subsequently, a suitable coating technique was selected to coat the best-suited drug/polymer composition onto the stent surface through an ultrasonic spray coating machine for cardiovascular application. Later, the natural drug loaded stent's drug release and degradation behavior were studied to establish a baseline for its future use. The observations and results obtained in the current research suggested that the synthesized natural drug loaded polymeric coatings have the potential to be used as a treatment option for cardiovascular diseases. This extensively studied drug delivery prototype may open new ventures for researchers to explore its prospects in the in-vitro, preclinical, and clinical settings.