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Biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles increase risk of cardiovascular diseases by inducing endothelium dysfunction and inflammation
Summary
Researchers found that injecting mice with nanoparticles made from PLGA — a biodegradable plastic widely used in medicine — caused significant narrowing of a major artery by promoting inflammation and abnormal smooth muscle cell growth. The findings raise concerns that biodegradable plastics are not necessarily safe for the cardiovascular system.
Biodegradable polymers are expected to be an alternative to plastics. Because of its high biocompatibility, poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) is widely used in medicine. It has been reported that micro-nano plastics can be accumulated in the circulatory system and cause tissue injury. With the increasing environmental exposure of degradable polymer nanoparticles (NPs), the impact of this risk factor on cardiovascular disease deserves attention. Thus, we aim to study the harmful effect of PLGA NPs on the process of vascular stenosis which is a typical pathological feature of cardiovascular diseases. We establish a mouse vascular stenosis model with intravenously injecting of PLGA NPs for 2 weeks. This model leads to a significant narrowing of the left common carotid artery which is characterized by the increasing intima area and focal stenosis. We observe that PLGA NPs accelerate stenosis progression by inducing inflammation and impairing vascular function. It promotes the proliferation of smooth muscle cells and causes abnormal collagen distribution. The combination of wall shear stress and PLGA NPs uptake speed up endothelial cell damage, decrease endothelial permeability and cell migration capacity. Our results suggest that PLGA NPs may pose a risk in cardiovascular stenosis which inspire us to concern the biodegradable polymeric materials in our living especially the clinic applications.