BIKIARIS LAB

Despite advances in medicine and the advancement of technology in protective equipment, lethal hemorrhage caused by trauma remains one of the most difficult problems in medicine and military medicine. Bleeding is responsible for the majority of deaths in the surgery caused by wounds. In addition, in military medicine, death rates from bleeding are particularly high (80%) and are the leading cause of death on the battlefield. Hemostatic drugs come to shorten blood coagulation, hemostasis of large wounds causing severe bleeding and to cover any malfunctions of the natural blood clotting mechanism. However, their action is particularly slow and in most cases immediate halt of the haemorrhage is required. Progress in the field of biotechnology and the complexity of surgical procedures have led to the development of advanced hemostatic products over the last decades. The new trend in haemostasis is the use of polymeric materials. It is evident that most pharmaceutical companies have turned their interest towards polymers rather than wrongfully, since they offer a huge range of properties at very affordable prices. In particular, polysaccharide-based polymers (modified cellulose, carrageenans, chitosan, etc.) are used in haemostatic products with a satisfactory ability to inhibit bleeding. They have the ability to directly absorb the blood and create a superficial film preventing profuse bleeding. Such products are HemCon, Chitoflex, Chitosea and Haemostatic Granules. They are based on the natural chitosan polymer and are currently commercially haemostatic products that provide rapid haemostasis but with several disadvantages such as the large amount of product required for adequate action (about 30 g), its high price (about 60 €) as well as incomplete hemostatic action in some cases leading patients to death. It also does not provide antimicrobial activity resulting in significant wound infection. The objective of the NanoTech4Haemostatic proposal is to develop new hemostatic products by applying innovative solutions that will provide them with faster and more effective hemostasis to fill a significant health and drug market gap, that of effective, cheap haemostatics without undesirable side effects. The aim of the proposal is to develop haemostatic products that have the following properties:

• Creation of a thrombus in the injured vessel even in the case of patients already undergoing some medication with anticoagulant active

• Maximum efficacy using a smaller amount of product

• Application to all kinds of wounds, anywhere in the body and any form of trauma

• Avoiding any kind of side effect such as thrombosis and infection.

To achieve these goals, chitosan haemostatic powder with antimicrobial properties will be prepared by chemically modifying it. Efficacy will be enhanced by vitamin K, protamine sulphate and iron sulphate which will accelerate thrombosis as well as heparin (anticoagulant) that will be encapsulated in polymer nanoparticles to avoid thrombosis at undesirable points. Although recent years have seen numerous of studies in the synthesis of such haemostatics, the thrombotic compounds (vitamin K, protamine sulphate, iron sulphate) will be used for the first time in international literature, as well as advanced chitosan modification and heparin encapsulation techniques will be applied.

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Starting date: 01/04/2022

Duration: 30 months 

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