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Research Projects
Polysaccharide-based Steroid Release Biomaterials


The objective of the project is to integrate the expertise in biomedical engineering with clinical science to develop a new therapeutic approach to treat disorders associated with the natural reduction in estrogen in peri- and post menopausal women. The onset of menopause, which occurs in most women around the age of 51, results in decreasing levels of estrogen leading to various post-menopausal side-effects, such as osteoporosis & strokes. There is no cure for osteoporosis, it is, however, preventable. Harmful effects due to loss of estrogen have been noted on various cardiovascular parameters. Strokes, for example, claim the lives of nearly 87,000 American women each year. Some form of cardiovascular disease is noted in women between the ages of 45 to 64 with the numbers rising to about one in three for women over the ages of 65. Alzheimer's disease has also been linked to the loss of estrogen.
We have developed dextran-based estrone release biomaterial that provides us with a linear release of estone with time in vitro. The estrone released from dextran may endogenously be converted to more active estradiol in-vivo. Thus, possibly delivery of estrone may act as the natural estrogen, minimizing the side effects of synthetic estrogen therapy.





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