Professor Metin Avkiran, Associate Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation has been working on ways to treat critical limb ischemia (CLI). CLI is a severe obstruction of the arteries which markedly reduces blood flow to the extremities (hands, feet, and legs) and has progressed to the point of severe pain and even skin ulcers or sores.
To date, clinical trials of cell therapy to date have only shown a modest benefit with disappointing results attributed to the lack of potency of cells injected.
Dr. Avkiran has developed a new macrophage transport capsule using alginate from brown seaweeds. The research found that these macrophages successfully remained in the injured area, new blood vessels formed, and as a result, more blood reached the damaged area.
These studies were preformed in mice models and are expected to move to human trials soon.
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