Implants: Can special coatings reduce complications after implant
surgery?

Date:
June 30, 2020
Source:
Martin-Luther-Universita"t Halle-Wittenberg
Summary:
New coatings on implants could help make them more compatible.

Researchers at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU)
have developed a new method of applying anti-inflammatory substances
to implants in order to inhibit undesirable inflammatory reactions
in the body.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
New coatings on implants could help make them more compatible. Researchers
at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) have developed a
new method of applying anti-inflammatory substances to implants in order
to inhibit undesirable inflammatory reactions in the body. Their study
was recently published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.


========================================================================== Implants, such as pacemakers or insulin pumps, are a regular part
of modern medicine. However, it is not uncommon for complications to
arise after implantation. The immune system identifies the implant as a
foreign body and attempts to remove it. "This is actually a completely
natural and useful reaction by the immune system," says Professor Thomas
Groth, a biophysicist at MLU. It helps to heal wounds and kills harmful pathogens. If this reaction does not subside on its own after a few weeks,
it can lead to chronic inflammation and more serious complications. "The
immune system attracts various cells that try to isolate or remove the
foreign entity. These include macrophages, a type of phagocyte, and
other types of white blood cells and connective tissue cells," explains
Groth. Implants can become encapsulated by connective tissue, which can
be very painful for those affected. In addition, the implant is no longer
able to function properly. Drugs that suppress the immune response in
a systemic manner are often used to treat chronic inflammation, but may
have undesired side effects.

Thomas Groth's team was looking for a simple way to modify the immune
system's response to an implant in advance. "This is kind of tricky,
because we obviously do not want to completely turn off the immune system
as its processes are vital for healing wounds and killing pathogens. So,
in fact we only wanted to modulate it," says the researcher. To do
this, his team developed a new coating for implants that contains anti-inflammatory substances. For their new study, the team used two
substances that are already known to have an anti- inflammatory effect:
heparin and hyaluronic acid.

In the laboratory, the scientists treated a surface with the
two substances by applying a layer that was only a few nanometres
thick. "The layer is so thin that it does not affect how the implant
functions. However, it must contain enough active substance to control
the reaction of the immune system until the inflammatory reaction has subsided," adds Groth. In cell experiments, the researchers observed how
the two substances were absorbed by the macrophages, thereby reducing inflammation in the cell cultures. The untreated cells showed clear
signs of a pronounced inflammatory reaction. This is because the
active substances inside the macrophages interfere with a specific
signalling pathway that is crucial for the immune response and cell
death. "Both heparin and hyaluronic acid prevent the release of certain pro-inflammatory messenger substances. Heparin is even more effective
because it can be absorbed by macrophage cells," Groth concludes.

So far, the researchers have only tested the method on model surfaces
and in cell cultures. Further studies on real implants and in model
organisms are to follow.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Martin-Luther-Universita"t_Halle-Wittenberg. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Hala Alkhoury, Adrian Hautmann, Bodo Fuhrmann, Frank Syrowatka,
Frank
Erdmann, Guoying Zhou, Sanja Stojanović, Stevo Najman,
Thomas Groth.

Studies on the Mechanisms of Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Heparin-
and Hyaluronan-Containing Multilayer Coatings--Targeting NF-kB
Signalling Pathway. International Journal of Molecular Sciences,
2020; 21 (10): 3724 DOI: 10.3390/ijms21103724 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200630072047.htm

--- up 23 weeks, 2 hours, 39 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111)