Stem cell therapies
mixture of chemicals will remove the cellular membranes and nuclear materials before enzyme blockers are applied to preserve the structural proteins of the extracellular matrix.
The method of combining tissue engineering and stem cells in the treatment of hip fractures is advantageous over current medical practices for a range of reasons. Firstly, tissue engineering can be implemented at any point, including after a traumatic experience, acting as an early intervention therapy to immediately begin the process of healing. A by-product of this is the improved quality of care (Brockett, 2020). Studies demonstrated improved healing and reduced pains in patients that were treated with the stem cell therapies alongside improved functionality compared to patients that received the sta ndard hip replacements. This is due to the stem cell’s promotion of the production of collagen, a protein that strengthens tissues and tendons. Moreover, the stem cell therapies yielded faster recovery periods will less intensive physical therapy, which was arbitrarily favoured compared to that of the hip replacement. In addition to this, research has already improved the efficacy of the stem cell therapies using tissue engineering. One method in which this is demonstrated is through maintaining high vascularization of the scaffold (Subbiah, 2021). A mature network of capillaries can provide high levels of oxygen and nutrients to the stem cells that depend on respiration for proliferation and differentiation whilst also maintaining structural integrity of the scaffold. Furthermore, biohydrogels have been developed as a medium for the stem cells to be loaded into with the growth and repair factors (Liu, 2021). The biohydrogels are nutrient rich, promoting proliferation, migration, and differentiation of the stem cells. These two case studies demonstrate that regenerative medicine has more potential to uncover. Despite already delivering successful treatments, stem cell therapies promise to refine and improve the quality of treatment that they can provide.
Case study 2 – drug delivery
The pharmaceutical industry’s role in healthcare systems is to research, develop, manufacture, supply, and commercialize therapeutic products for the general population. The industry is worth approximately $1.25 trillion worldwide, expected to reach a compound annual growth rate of 8% by 2025 (ResearchAndMarkets, 2021). In the UK, there are 573 biopharmaceutical enterprises that are responsible for over two-thirds of all national medical research and development (ABPI, 2021). These companies aim to improve the efficacy of their products. Due to the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic and related vaccination programmes, refinement of drug delivery is a particularly key area of research. In many pharmaceutical companies, liposomes are popular as a drug transport vehicle for many medications (Daraee, 2014). The function of a biological transport vehicle is to protect a range of macromolecules by delivering them safely into a host. These nanoparticles tend to store proteins, such as antibodies and lipoproteins, drugs, and other therapeutic agents (Bandopadhyay, 2020). The liposome is a vesicular macromolecule that has biochemical properties that make it well suited to carrying drugs, as it has an aqueous solution core with a lipid bilayer membrane. This characterizes the liposome with a hydrophilic outer layer, making the vehicle soluble, while the inner region of the membrane is hydrophobic, ensuring that the contents of the aqueous core cannot pass through the
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