Applications of Biotechnology in Cardiovascular Therapeutics PDF
Preview Applications of Biotechnology in Cardiovascular Therapeutics
Applications of Biotechnology in Cardiovascular Therapeutics Applications of Biotechnology in Cardiovascular Therapeutics Kewal K. Jain MD, FRACS, FFPM Jain PharmaBiotech, Basel, Switzerland Kewal K. Jain Jain PharmaBiotech Blaesiring 7 Basel 4057 Switzerland [email protected] ISBN 978-1-61779-239-7 e-ISBN 978-1-61779-240-3 DOI 10.1007/978-1-61779-240-3 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London Library of Congress Control Number: 2011931532 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Humana Press, c/o Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper Humana press is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) This book is dedicated to Prof. Dr. Friedrich S. Eckstein, Chief of Cardiac Surgery, Heart Center, University Hospital Basel, who performed the life-saving coronary artery bypass open heart surgery with smooth recovery to enable me to write this book. My thanks are due to PD Dr. Michael Zellweger of the Cardiology Department for competently conducting diagnostic investigations including coronary angiography and arranging treatment. Finally, Prof. Dr. Michael Tamm and PD Dr. Werner Strobel of the Pulmonology Department referred me for cardiac investigations after I presented with nonspecific dyspnea. Having visited some of the best medical centers in the world, I am happy to say that the treatment that I received in Basel was optimal and second to none. I learned a fair bit about modern cardiology during my interaction with physicians at the hospital. Preface This report puts together excerpts from the various writings by the author on the biotechnology topics as they relate to cardiovascular disease. Very appropriately the report was put together during the week that the author was recovering from open heart bypass surgery at the University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland. It is meant for physicians, surgeons, and scientists working on cardiovascular disorders. It will be useful for those working in life sciences and pharmaceutical industries, and some basics of cardiovascular diseases are included for nonmedical readers. A major application of biotechnology is in therapeutic delivery to the cardiovas- cular system. Routes of drug delivery and applications to various diseases are described. Formulations for drug delivery to the cardiovascular system range from controlled release preparations to delivery of proteins and peptides. Various methods of improving systemic administration of drugs for cardiovascular disorders are described including the use of nanotechnology. Cell-selective-targeted drug delivery has emerged as one of the most significant areas of biotechnology engineering research to optimize the therapeutic efficacy of a drug by strictly localizing its pharmacological activity to a pathophysiologically relevant tissue system. These concepts have been applied to targeted drug delivery to the cardiovascular system. Finally, devices for drug delivery to the cardiovascular system are described. A full chapter is devoted to drug-eluting stents used for treat- ment of restenosis following stenting of coronary arteries. This is one of the biggest segments of the cardiovascular drug delivery market with 15 companies involved in developing and producing stents. Cell and gene therapies, including antisense and RNA interference, are described in full chapters as they are the most innovative methods of delivery of therapeutics. New cell-based therapeutic strategies are being developed in response to the short- comings of available treatments for heart disease. Potential repair by cell grafting or mobilizing endogenous cells holds particular attraction in heart disease, where the meager capacity for cardiomyocyte proliferation likely contributes to the irrevers- ibility of heart failure. Cell therapy approaches include attempts to reinitiate cardio- myocyte proliferation in the adult, conversion of fibroblasts to contractile myocytes, vii viii Preface conversion of bone marrow stem cells into cardiomyocytes, and transplantation of myocytes or other cells into injured myocardium. Advances in molecular pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases have brought gene therapy within the realm of possibility as a novel approach to treatment of these diseases. It is hoped that gene therapy will be less expensive and affordable because the techniques involved are simpler than those involved in cardiac bypass surgery, heart transplantation, and stent implantation. Gene therapy would be a more physiologic approach to deliver vasoprotective molecules to the site of vascular lesion. Gene therapy is not only a sophisticated method of drug delivery; it may also need drug delivery devices such as catheters for transfer of genes to various parts of the cardiovascular system. Finally, a chapter on personalized cardiology is important for the era of person- alized medicine. This concept is the best way of integrating new technologies in cardiology to select the best treatment for an individual patient. The bibliography includes selected references from recent literature on this topic, which are appended to each chapter. The text is supplemented by 22 tables and 13 figures. Kewal K. Jain, MD Basel, Switzerland About This Book This book contains excerpts from various biotechnology books and reports authored by Prof. K. K. Jain that are relevant to cardiovascular disorders. The most important contributions of biotechnology are to cardiovascular drug delivery. Advances in cardiovascular surgery based on biomedical technology are beyond the scope of this report. This is the draft of the expanded and updated document to be issued as separate book. ix
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