Amrita School of Nanosciences and Molecular Medicine, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kochi, Kerala 682041, India.
Department of ENT, Amrita School of Medicine, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kochi, Kerala 682041, India.
ACS Appl Bio Mater. 2024 Aug 19;7(8):5237-5246. doi: 10.1021/acsabm.4c00422. Epub 2024 Jul 15.
Vocal fold (VF) scarring, a complex problem in laryngology, results from injury and inflammation of the layered architecture of the VFs. The resultant voice hoarseness, for which successful therapeutic options are currently limited, affects the patient's quality of life. A promising strategy to reverse this disorder is the use of antifibrotic drugs. The present study proposes a novel microbead-embedded injectable hydrogel that can sustain the release of the anti-fibrotic drug pirfenidone (PFD) for vocal fold scarring. Microbeads were developed using sodium alginate and gelatin, which were further embedded into a biomimetic and tissue adhesive gellan gum (GG) hydrogel. The microbead-embedded hydrogel exhibited improved injectability, viscoelasticity, tissue adhesiveness, degradability, and swelling compared to the hydrogel without beads. Additionally, the bead-embedded hydrogel could sustain the release of the PFD for a week. studies showed that the drug-loaded hydrogel could reduce the migration and proliferation of fibroblast cells in a dose-dependent manner. In summary, this study demonstrates the potential of a PFD-loaded injectable hydrogel with enhanced viscoelastic and tissue-adhesive properties for vocal fold scarring applications.
声带（VF）瘢痕是喉科学中的一个复杂问题，源于 VF 分层结构的损伤和炎症。由此产生的声音嘶哑，目前治疗选择有限，影响患者的生活质量。一种有前途的逆转这种疾病的策略是使用抗纤维化药物。本研究提出了一种新型的微珠嵌入可注射水凝胶，可维持抗纤维化药物吡非尼酮（PFD）的释放，用于声带瘢痕。微珠是使用海藻酸钠和明胶开发的，然后将其进一步嵌入仿生和组织粘合剂结冷胶（GG）水凝胶中。与没有珠子的水凝胶相比，微珠嵌入水凝胶具有更好的可注射性、粘弹性、组织粘附性、可降解性和溶胀性。此外，载药水凝胶可以持续释放 PFD 长达一周。研究表明，载药水凝胶可以以剂量依赖的方式减少成纤维细胞的迁移和增殖。综上所述，本研究证明了载有 PFD 的可注射水凝胶具有增强的粘弹性和组织粘附特性，可用于声带瘢痕应用。
