Intracoronary Injection of In Situ Forming Alginate Hydrogel Reverses Left Ventricular Remodeling After Myocardial Infarction in Swine

Jonathan Leor*, Shmuel Tuvia, Victor Guetta, Ferenc Manczur, David Castel, Udi Willenz, Örs Petneházy, Natali Landa, Micha S. Feinberg, Eli Konen, Orly Goitein, Orna Tsur-Gang, Mazal Shaul, Lea Klapper, Smadar Cohen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Objectives: This study sought to determine whether alginate biomaterial can be delivered effectively into the infarcted myocardium by intracoronary injection to prevent left ventricular (LV) remodeling early after myocardial infarction (MI). Background: Although injectable biomaterials can improve infarct healing and repair, the feasibility and effectiveness of intracoronary injection have not been studied. Methods: We prepared a calcium cross-linked alginate solution that undergoes liquid to gel phase transition after deposition in infarcted myocardium. Anterior MI was induced in swine by transient balloon occlusion of left anterior descending coronary artery. At 4 days after MI, either alginate solution (2 or 4 ml) or saline was injected selectively into the infarct-related coronary artery. An additional group (n = 19) was treated with incremental volumes of biomaterial (1, 2, and 4 ml) or 2 ml saline and underwent serial echocardiography studies. Results: Examination of hearts harvested after injection showed that the alginate crossed the infarcted leaky vessels and was deposited as hydrogel in the infarcted tissue. At 60 days, control swine experienced an increase in left ventricular (LV) diastolic area by 44%, LV systolic area by 45%, and LV mass by 35%. In contrast, intracoronary injection of alginate (2 and 4 ml) prevented and even reversed LV enlargement (p < 0.01). Post-mortem analysis showed that the biomaterial (2 ml) increased scar thickness by 53% compared with control (2.9 ± 0.1 mm vs. 1.9 ± 0.3 mm; p < 0.01) and was replaced by myofibroblasts and collagen. Conclusions: Intracoronary injection of alginate biomaterial is feasible, safe, and effective. Our findings suggest a new percutaneous intervention to improve infarct repair and prevent adverse remodeling after reperfused MI.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1014-1023
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of the American College of Cardiology
Volume54
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - 8 Sep 2009

Keywords

  • biomaterials
  • heart failure
  • myocardial infarction
  • remodeling

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