Potential of using chemically modified iron nanocomposites with a carbon layer (Fe@C) in the treatment of atherosclerosis

The project shows that nanocomposites obtained by gas-phase synthesis, consisting of zero-valent iron (30-40 nm) and coated with a carbon layer (5 nm) are successfully subjected to chemical modification with 4 octadecyl benzene diazonium tosylate. As a result of such modification, nanocomposites are obtained that acquire completely new properties, namely, active interaction with cholesterol-like chemical compounds that are part of the structure of atherosclerotic plaque in humans. Evidence of such interaction was obtained in morphological studies using optical and electron microscopy in experiments on laboratory animals (rats) in vivo, as well as using mass spectrometry methods of human atherosclerotic plaques in vitro experiments.

As one of the first applied uses of the project, a technology for the production of a new generation of vascular stent has already been developed 3. It is based on the technology of applying a biodegradable coating to finished bare metal vascular stents. The biodegradable layer includes modified Fe@C, thereby considering the possibility of using local action on the structure of the atherosclerotic plaque and preventing its further growth (restenosis of the artery) after implantation of the stent into the bloodstream.

Taking into account the pronounced magnetic properties of the synthesized nanocomposites, the possibility of developing a drug and, using external magnetic fields, its targeted delivery to organs affected by atherosclerosis is being considered.

Keywords: Atherosclerosis, Nanocomposite, Chemically Modified Carbon-Coated Iron Nanoparticle, Coronary Stent.

Professor Shamil Akhmedov is a distinguished expert in Cardiovascular Sciences. He has completed training courses in cardiovascular surgery at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital (Paris, France) and the Minneapolis Heart Institute (Minneapolis, MN, USA). He has also supervised a group of medical doctors attending the training course in heart transplant surgery at the Research Institute of Transplantology and Artificial Organs (Moscow, Russia). Additionally, he participated in the Transplant Surgery Program at the Heart and Diabetes Center of North Rhine-Westphalia (Bad Oeynhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany), and the Oxford Elite Training Programme at the Said Business School, University of Oxford. He is the author of more than 250 scientific publications and 22 patents, and serves as a scientific expert for numerous foundations and highly rated scientific journals. His scientific interests focus on the use of modern nanotechnology in cardiology and cardiovascular surgery, finding new partners to organize joint grants, conferences, and production sites, and delivering custom scientific lectures on nanotechnology as well as organizing the production of new products.