Abstract:
Background
Although intraarterial placed stents can minimize decisively the negative effects after angioplasty, they still stay susceptible to the development of restenosis, which is mainly caused by neointimal hyperplasia. Inflammation plays an important role in the pathophysiology of in-stent restenosis. In this animal study the effects of stent-based delivery of C1/C3 complement inhibitors were determined. The purpose was to analyze inflammation response after stent application and to find possible therapeutic effects of the used substance on neointimal proliferation.
Methods
Uncoated stents (without hydrogel or C1/C3 complement inhibitors, n = 15), and hydrogel-coated stents with (n = 14) or without (n = 7) C1/C3 complement inhibitors were deployed in the infrarenal aorta of New Zealand White Rabbits, which were killed four days or six weeks after implant. After processing, morphometric and histologic analysis of the tissue sections were performed.
Results
Stent coating with C1/C3 complement inhibitors doesn’t lead to significant inhibition of neointimal proliferation. The used hydrogel detached from the stent and caused excessive inflammation, which resulted in a large neointimal area. In comparison with hydrogel coating alone, the therapy group had a clear decreased inflammation response in conjunction with reduced neointimal proliferation.
Conclusions
The stent coating used in this study is not an alternative for the use of stainless steel stents. However, findings suggest that the hydrogel coating was the main problem, which caused an excessive stimulation of tissue inflammation. Furthermore, the dose of inhibitors was probably not sufficient for inhibition of inflammatory response. In conjunction with another basis coating, which doesn't stimulate the inflammation, C1/C3 complement inhibitors could absolutely be used as a local delivered drug and might be helpful for prevention of in-stent restenosis.