TUNABLE HYALURONIC ACID HYDROGELS TO ALTER AND UNDERSTAND LEFT VENTRICULAR REMODELING

摘要

Heart disease causes about 15% of deaths in the United States; about two thirds of these cases are due to coronary artery disease [1]. Post myocardial infarction (MI), left ventricular (LV) remodeling ensues and leads to geometric changes that result in dilation and thinning of the myocardial wall. This increases stress in the infarct and healthy tissue and ultimately results in heart failure. Injectable bulking agents have recently emerged as a promising therapy to address these maladaptive changes. As suggested by the Law of Laplace, thickening of the myocardium should decrease stress on the heart and potentially attenuate the negative effects of LV remodeling [2]. While several bulking agents have been experimentally investigated, the exact mechanism behind their success is unclear. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a native extracellular matrix molecule that is easily functionalized and processed into hydrogels with tunable properties [3]. Our group has used HA hydrogels to experimentally evaluate how material properties, specifically mechanics, influence LV remodeling [4,5]. While this experimental work has provided insight into the material properties that influence remodeling, further work is needed to elucidate their effect on stress in the myocardium.