Design and modeling of an oxygen-releasing hydrogel for myocardial infarction treatment.

Oxygen represents the fuel of life. It is essential for the survival of the entire human organism, from the small cellular compartments to the wide organs. Hence, if absent, it can undermine the physiological behavior of the body. One of the districts that is mainly affected by lack of oxygen is the cardiovascular one where the heart muscle, without O2 supplied by the coronary arteries, hardly contracts and pumps blood to feed the organism. This can occur as a consequence of a coronary heart disease (CHD), namely a myocardial infarction (MI), during which the blood flow headed to the heart is stopped, altering cardiomyocytes functions and eventually leading to their necrosis. Current clinical treatments for MI reintroduce oxygen in the infarcted region with a systemic approach that may not be efficient since the blood flow in that area is reduced and, hence, may not correctly transport its payload. Conversely, our project wants to design an oxygen-releasing biomaterial for the treatment of myocardial infarction through a topical approach that will oxygenate the damaged area without affecting healthy tissues. This study proposes an adhesive hydrogel that embeds an oxygen-delivering system made up of perfluorocarbon (PFC) and hemoglobin (Hb). Those molecules, separately, have been already employed in the fabrication of synthetic oxygen carriers thanks to their peculiar oxygen-delivery characteristics. This work, instead, analyzes their combination that is meant to promote an efficient oxygenation of the myocardium, consistently with its needs. The proposed framework presents the FEM modeling of this novel biomaterial, moving from the biochemical properties of its components. In particular, specific functions are designed to simulate the kinetics of oxygen delivery from both hemoglobin and perfluorocarbon molecules and their interactions. Then, the oxygen-releasing behavior of the hydrogel is simulated and analyzed taking into account its proximity to the infarcted area in hypoxic conditions (O2 level <1%). Results show that, after release from Hb and PFC carriers, the oxygen concentration inside the myocardial damaged portion is at physiological levels, suggesting that cardiomyocytes can carry out their metabolic activities since no harmful consequences related to oxidative stress should occur. The hydrogel guarantees tissue oxygenation for a period of time that is comparable to similar biomaterials found in literature.