Although rare diseases and atherosclerosis affect only a small part of the population, it doesn’t make them less essential to find resolve. Basically, such conditions come with a genetic component and a row of particular symptoms, making diagnostics and therapy challenging.
That is the point where advanced treatment comes into play. Due to the state-of-the-art therapeutic approaches resulting in progressive non-invasive delivery of nanomedicines, struggling with rare conditions is faster and more efficient. This article will cover how nanomedicines help people handle rare disorders like Cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and atherosclerosis.
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Cystic Fibrosis
This is an inherited disease of mucous and sweat glands that implies thick and sticky mucus accumulation in the lungs. In turn, it provokes breathing problems and bacteria growth, which may end in repeated lung infections and severe damage. Besides the lungs, this disease can harm the sinuses, liver, intestine, pancreas, and even sexual organs.
The main cystic fibrosis issue is biofilms formations. In simple words, they are thin sheets that complicate the process of antibiotic therapy. Still, there is a way out, and it involves nanomedicine-based treatment for rare diseases.
Due to nanotechnology, scientists have developed a so-called ‘Biofilmchip’ that can help treat patients with the most appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Plus, it is possible to detect the number of bacterial types each biofilm contains. Thus, recovery from this rare condition might be faster and less daunting.
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Muscular Dystrophy
Another rare condition requiring new treatments is muscular dystrophy. Characterized by prolonged muscle exhaustion and weakness, it may cause functional dependency, disability, and premature death. Generally, muscular disorders include mutations in nearly 40 genes with various pathogenic mechanisms.
Recent research has shown substantial progress in nanomedicine solutions to cure muscle dystrophy. With a nanoparticle platform, delivering varied active ingredients like drugs, genetic info, and gene editing tools is trouble-free and incredibly successful.
For example, encapsulating anti-inflammatory agents such as glucocorticoids in nanoparticles reduces the risks of complicated side effects and raises therapeutic efficiency to a great extent. Moreover, the non-invasive delivery of nanomedicines promises to restore the overall functionality of defective genes in diseased muscles.
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Atherosclerosis
Since atherosclerosis belongs to chronic conditions, it doesn’t require treatment for rare diseases like previous, but it also can’t do without nanotechnology here. This inflammatory condition means arterial wall disorder, resulting from a dysregulated lipid metabolism and maladaptive inflammatory response. A vast array of clinical studies prove the correlation between lipid levels and cardiovascular conditions.
The nanomedicine atherosclerosis treatment approach denotes nanocarrier usage for lipid-based drug transportation. These nanocarriers involve organometallic- or carbon-based, virus-like or inorganic particles like silver, gold, and metal oxides. In practice, there are two key methods of atherosclerosis treatment – passive and active targeting.
With passive targeting, nanomedicines get to the target spot by applying incredibly prefusable cells. Meanwhile, active targeting ensures conjugating the nanomedicine with spot-specific molecules or cell-specific aimed ligands. According to studies, liposome-encapsulated amiodarone has showcased impeccable efficacy with minor side effects in hypotension. This is a perfect example of how nanoparticles within the framework of the cardiac drug may boost atherosclerosis therapy as well as other CVDs.