Targeted Therapy of Atherosclerosis Vulnerable Plaque By ROS-Scavenging Nanoparticles And MR/Fluorescence Dual-Modality Imaging Tracing

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are currently the leading cause of death and disability worldwide, and the key pathological basis is atherosclerosis (AS). Especially, the rupture of vulnerable plaques is the main cause of acute cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events such as myocardial infarction and stroke. Thus, the early identifying and therapy of vulnerable plaques are necessary. Results: In this study, we developed a novel multimodal imaging platform (GPRD) based on Gd doped Prussian blue (GPB) and rhodamine (Rd) to specifically target and identify the vulnerable plaques with the help of dextran sulfate (DS), one of the excellent ligands of scavenger receptor class A (SR-A). It is more important that the nano-enzyme capacity of GPRD NPs realized the elimination of the excessive production of ROS in cells, and the following reduction of ROS-induced oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and the formation of macrophage-derived foam cells, presenting an inhibition of plaque progress eventually. Conclusions: The ROS-scavenging multimodal imaging nanoprobe provided a new avenue for the diagnosis and treatment of AS vulnerable plaques.