Europium Hydroxide Nanorods Mitigate Hind Limb Ischemia In Wistar Rats

Lack of adequate blood supply to the limb extremities results in critical limb ischemia (CLI) and subsequent tissue death. Conventional approaches for CLI treatment include bypass surgery and angioplasty, which achieved limited clinical success due to their complex invasiveness. Of late, growth factor and cell-based therapies emerged as alternative treatment strategies for CLI. However, these strategies could not achieve much success due to the associated drawbacks. Earlier, this study group develops europium hydroxide nanorods (EHN) which demonstrates potential proangiogenic (stimulating new blood vessel growth) properties. Recently it is shown that EHN could ameliorate the myocardial ischemia in Wistar rats by promoting therapeutic angiogenesis and mitigate cadmium-induced vascular toxicity. Considering the importance of revascularization in managing CLI, it is hypothesized that the proangiogenic EHN might be useful for its effective treatment. Hence, in the present study, the therapeutic efficacy of EHN is comprehensively evaluated in the hind limb ischemia model of Wistar rats. The EHN-administered ischemic rats exhibit improved motility, enhanced blood flow to the ischemic limb along with increased expression of angiogenic factors. Additionally, toxicity and pharmacokinetic studies of EHN in mice demonstrate their nontoxic nature, suggesting the feasibility of their practical clinical application for CLI treatment.