Chitosan hydrogels as regulatory systems for cardiac diseases

Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) are present at the intracellular level and play a crucial role in metabolic regulation, influencing key cellular processes. However, if ROS levels become excessive, as a result of an uncontrolled dysregulation, they lead to oxidative stress within cells and tissues. Oxidative stress is involved in the onset and progression of many pathological conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, which are one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Among the strategies to manage oxidative stress, chitosan is known to act as ROS scavenger. However, major challenges remain in the context of in vitro reproduction and modelisation of in vivo oxidative stress conditions. In this Master thesis project the ability of chitosan hydrogels to alleviate oxidative stress, acting as ROS-regulatory system, has been evaluated, focusing on how chitosan antioxidant behavior depends on its formulation parameters, such as acetylation degree, crosslinking method and polymer concentration. To this end, ROS like NO2- and H2O2 have been generated in different physiological media. This setup can be used as an in vitro oxidative stress model to evaluate potential ROS-regulatory properties exhibited by chitosan hydrogels within a similar in vivo environment. This Master Thesis tallies with the European project PACGEL (Grant No. 101067882).