Nanomedicine-Based Therapeutics for Myocardial Ischemic/Reperfusion Injury

Myocardial ischemic/reperfusion (IR) injury is a global cardiovascular disease with high mortality and morbidity. Therapeutic interventions for myocardial ischemia involve restoring the occluded coronary artery. However, reactive oxygen species (ROS) inevitably impair the cardiomyocytes during the ischemic and reperfusion phases. Antioxidant therapy holds great promise against myocardial IR injury. The current therapeutic methodologies for ROS scavenging depend predominantly on administering antioxidants. Nevertheless, the intrinsic drawbacks of antioxidants limit their further clinical transformation. The use of nanoplatforms with versatile characteristics greatly benefits drug delivery in myocardial ischemic therapy. Nanoplatform-mediated drug delivery significantly improves drug bioavailability, increases therapeutic index, and reduces systemic toxicity. Nanoplatforms can be specifically and reasonably designed to enhance molecule accumulation at the myocardial site. The present review initially summarizes the mechanism of ROS generation during the process of myocardial ischemia. The understanding of this phenomenon will facilitate the advancement of innovative therapeutic strategies against myocardial IR injury. The latest developments in nanomedicine for treating myocardial ischemic injury are then discussed. Finally, the current challenges and perspectives in antioxidant therapy for myocardial IR injury are addressed.