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Recent years brought about a widespread interest in the potential applications of nanotechnology for the diagnostics and the therapy of human diseases. With its promise of disease-targeted, patient-tailored treatment and reduced side effects, nanomedicine brings hope for millions of patients suffering of non-communicable diseases such as cancer or cardiovascular disorders. However, the emergence of the complex, multicomponent products based on new technologies poses multiple challenges to successful approval in clinical practice. Regulatory and development considerations, including properties of the components, reproducible manufacturing and appropriate characterization methods, as well as nanodrugs’ safety and efficacy are critical for rapid marketing of the new products. This review discusses the recent advances in cardiovascular applications of nanotechnologies and highlights the challenges that must be overcome in order to fill the gap existing between the promising bench trials and the successful bedside applications.

The simultaneous systematic analysis (SSA) approach, emanating from the novel achievements in science and technology, is targeted to provide a broad insight into the human body physical and mental functioning in various surroundings. Thus it paves the way to personalized, preventive and predictive medicine. The goal is to form an ongoing collaborative research and development platform focusing on the micro and macroenvironmental factors of the complex human functioning. This approach aims to build an open, innovative, systematic joint effort, combining and sharing all acquired knowledge and expertise among the leading professionals in all relevant areas of science and technology, while reducing technical, conceptual and formal barriers. The CHEST methodology (converging humanities, education, science and technology) will be utilized, as an innovative meeting point, enabling open and coherent discussions among all stakeholders from all relevant disciplines. The SSA approach is complementary and fully aligned with the partitioned research, creating a well-structured joint effort, ongoing R&D sharing and borderless discussions among the academic research, government, regulatory agencies, industry, and the public. Bringing on board all stakeholders including young students, could provide innovative outcomes and new regulations adjusted to the new era. This review study focuses on the cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) diagnosis and treatment case study, as CVDs accounts for about one third of human morbidity and mortality and is a main driver in the biomedical and drug industries. The American Heart Association (AHA) in its 2020 published health goals reflect a similar attitude and thus provides strong support to the SSA approach. It is the authors’ contention that applying the SSA approach could provide the essential comprehensive insight into individual complex functioning over time and place. Thus, it would enable responsible personalized, accessible healthcare and yielding major economical and sociological impact on society.

Nanomedicine, a young and innovative field, offers interesting approaches for diagnosis and treatment in personalized medicine. Myocardial infarction and stroke belong to the most important challenges in this context because an improved early diagnosis of individuals well before fatal clinical endpoints occur is urgently needed. The underlying cause of myocardial infarction and stroke is atherosclerosis, a chronic immune-mediated inflammation of the vascular wall involving monocytes, macrophages, T-lymphocytes, and arterial wall cells. Hence, an immense number of pro-inflammatory mediators have been investigated in the context of nanomedicine and atherosclerosis but, interestingly, only few anti-inflammatory biomarkers. Nevertheless, the anti-inflammatory axis is always present as a negative feedback if a critical inflammatory perpetuation destabilizes atherosclerotic lesions. Hence, we could show that the immune-modulating, anti-inflammatory molecules, adiponectin and interleukin-10, are useful for molecular imaging of AS plaques. Based on recent publications in animal models of atherosclerosis, we strongly assume that the inflammatory “brake” mechanisms may represent an interesting new tool to specifically target the scenario of culprit AS-lesions. In this review article we discuss the potential of adiponectin, interleukin-10 and other anti-inflammatory active molecules like targeted liposomes and high dense lipoproteins towards this.

Atherosclerosis is the most important arterial wall disease that causes arterial stenosis and may lead to the clinical manifestations of angina, heart attack and stroke. There is a demanding unmet medical need for new approaches for early diagnosis and improved/novel targeted therapies and therapy monitoring of atherosclerosis. This is the focus of two European large scale projects, the NanoAthero and the CosmoPHOS-nano by using nanomedicine. The aim is to demonstrate that nanotechnology-enabled systems can be successfully developed and clinically proven to be safe and effective in tackling cardiovascular diseases.