Injectable resveratrol micelles loaded chitosan hydrogel for protecting myocardial cell from injure in oxidative stress microenvironment

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a critical heart disease with a high mortality rate, posing a serious risk to human health. Injectable hydrogels possess considerable therapeutic promise for managing MI through the application of tissue-engineered scaffolds for cell delivery. However, the oxidative stress microenvironment of MI lesions leads to low cell retention and survival. In this study, a thermo-sensitive resveratrol micelles (RES-M) loaded chitosan hydrogel (RM-CH) was developed against oxidative stress injury in cardiomyocytes (CMs). RM-CH had better scavenging ability against DPPH and ABTS radicals compared to industry-standard ascorbic acid. RM-CH had good biodegradability, histocompatibility and cytocompatibility. The injection process of the hydrogel did not cause cell injury. DHE and DCFH-DA staining showed that it can improve the survival of CMs by fighting against the oxidative stress microenvironment. Live/Dead staining of CMs in hydrogels showed that the addition of RES-M could rescue cell survival under oxidative stress. Hence, this work highlights the potential clinical applications of RM-CH which may present an ideal scaffold material for injectable cardiac tissue engineering.