Lead author Dr Rongjun Chen of Imperial’s Department of Chemical Engineering said: “tPA has a narrow window between desired effect and side effects, so we have wrapped it in a package that extends this therapeutic window and minimises the required dose. The findings are published in Science Advances.Įncapsulated tPA dissolving a blood clot in the microfluidic system They designed the nanocapsules to attach to activated platelets present in thrombi, release the tPA payload and dissolve clots. Now, researchers at Imperial College London have found that by encasing tPA in newly designed tiny capsules, it can be targeted more specifically to harmful blood clots with an increased circulation time. Consequently, it is only used for a minority of potentially eligible patients. However, tPA can cause life-threatening off-target bleeding, and lasts only a few minutes in circulation, so often requires repeated doses, which further increases the risk of bleeding. They can be treated with a clot dissolving drug called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) which disrupts clots to clear the blocked blood vessel and re-establish blood flow. Dr Rongjun Chen Department of Chemical Engineeringīlood clots, also known as thrombi, are a key cause of strokes and heart attacks which are leading causes of death and ill-health worldwide. Our results are exciting but animal and clinical studies are required for validation. We have wrapped (the drug) in a package that extends this therapeutic window and minimises the required dose. If confirmed with animal tests, the nanocapsules could also make the drug more effective at lower doses. Tested on human blood in the lab, the selective nanocapsules could reduce the side effects of a major blood clot dissolving drug, which include bleeding on the brain. Imperial researchers have designed drug delivery nanocapsules that could reduce the side effects of a major blood clot dissolving drug.
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