Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), primarily myocardial infarction (MI), atherosclerosis, hypertension and congestive heart failure symbolize the foremost cause of death in almost all parts of the world. Besides the traditional therapeutic approaches for the management of CVDs, newer innovative strategies are also emerging on the horizon. Recently, gene silencing via small interfering RNA (siRNA) is one of the hot topics amongst various strategies involved in the management of CVDs. The siRNA mechanism involves natural catalytic processes to silence pathological genes that are overexpressed in a particular disease. Also the versatility of gene expression by siRNA deciphers a prospective tactic to down-regulate diseases associated gene, protein or receptor existing on a specific disease target. This article reviews the application of siRNA against CVDs with special emphasis on gene targets in combination with delivery systems such as cationic hydrogels, polyplexes, peptides, liposomes and dendrimers.
The increasing prevalence and complexity of cardiovascular diseases demand innovative strategies for diagnostic and therapeutic applications to improve patient care/prognoses. Additionally, various factors constrain present cardiovascular therapies, including low aqueous drug solubility, early metabolism, short half-life and drug delivery limitations. The efficient treatment of cardiovascular diseases requires improvement of traditional drug delivery systems. This can be accomplished by using novel nanomaterial that can incorporate diverse bio-actives along with diagnostic agents in a single carrier, referred to as theranostics. This review discusses the state of the art in the applications to diagnosis and therapy of innovative, nanomaterial- based strategies such as lipid based carriers, nanocapsules, magnetic nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles, protein conjugated nanoparticles, dendrimers and carbon-based nanoformulations with a special emphasis on how they can contribute to improving the management of cardiovascular disease.
siRNA technology presents a helpful means of gene silencing in mammalian cells. Advancement in the field includes enhanced attentiveness in the characterization of target and off-target effects employing suitable controls and gene expression microarrays. These will permit expansion in the measurement of single and multiple target combinations and also permit comprehensive efforts to understand mammalian cell processes. Another fact is that the delivery of siRNA requires the creation of a nanoparticulate vector with controlled structural geometry and surface modalities inside the targeted cells. On the other hand, dendrimers represent the class of carrier system where massive control over size, shape and physicochemical properties makes this delivery vector exceptional and favorable in genetic transfection applications. The siRNA therapeutics may be incorporated inside the geometry of the density controlled dendrimers with the option of engineering the structure to the specific needs of the genetic material and its indication. The existing reports on the siRNA carrying and deliverance potential of dendrimers clearly suggest the significance of this novel class of polymeric architecture and certainly elevate the futuristic use of this highly branched vector as genetic material delivery system.