Nanotechnology-Based Gene-Eluting Stents

Cardiovascular disease is one of the major causes of death in the world. Coronary stenting in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has revolutionized the field of cardiology. Coronary stenting is seen as a less invasive procedure compared to coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Two main types of stents currently exist in the market: bare-metal stents (BMS) and drug-eluting stents (DES). DES were developed in response to problems associated with BMS use, like neointimal hyperplasia leading to restenosis. However, the use of DES engendered other problems as well, like late stent thrombosis (ST), which is a serious and lethal complication. Gene-eluting stents (GES) have recently been proposed as a novel method of circumventing problems seen in BMS and DES. Utilizing nanotechnology, sustained and localized delivery of genes can mitigate problems of restenosis and late ST by accelerating the regenerative capacity of re-endothelialization. Therefore this review seeks to explore the realm of GES as a novel alternative to BMS and DES, and its potential implications in the field of nanotechnology and regenerative medicine.