The use of shear stress for targeted drug delivery

Saxer, Till; Zumbuehl, Andreas; Mueller, Bert

doi:10.1093/cvr/cvt102

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Journal article

The use of shear stress for targeted drug delivery

Saxer, Till Cardiology, University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland
Zumbuehl, Andreas Department of Chemistry, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Mueller, Bert Biomaterials Science Center (BMC), University of Basel, Switzerland

02.05.2013

Published in:

Cardiovascular Research. - 2013, vol. 99, no. 2, p. 328-333

English Stenosed segments of arteries significantly alter the blood flow known from healthy vessels. In particular, the wall shear stress at critically stenosed arteries is at least an order of magnitude higher than in healthy situations. This alteration represents a change in physical force and might be used as a trigger signal for drug delivery. Mechanosensitive drug delivery systems, that preferentially release their payload under increased shear stress, are discussed. Therefore, besides biological or chemical markers, physical triggers are a further principle approach for targeted drug delivery. We hypothesize that such physical trigger is much more powerful to release drugs for vasodilation, plaque stabilization or clot lysis at stenosed arteries than any known biological or chemical ones.

Faculty

Faculté des sciences et de médecine

Department

Département de Chimie

Language