Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are responsible for the highest mortality rates globally. About one-third of the CVD-related casualties derive from ischemic heart diseases, which cause an irreversible injury to the myocardium. As a result of the very limited capacity of the heart tissue to recover from the ischemic insult, this usually leads to remodeling and scarring of the cardiac tissue, eventually progressing to irreversible heart failure. Currently, there is no major discovery of an effective cure to restore the function of an injured heart. Therefore, there is an unmet need to find a permanent solution for patients suffering from ischemic heart disease (IHD) and heart failure. In this regard, nanoparticles made of biomaterials called the attention of the scientific community as potential platform to deliver different therapeutics to the injured heart. Particulate nanomedicines, currently at the pre-clinical stage, are arising as a promising tool to provide minimally invasive treatment, an important aspect to take into account for clinical translation and patient compliance, and specifically deliver therapeutics to the injured myocardium. Here, we discuss about the current knowledge on the nanomedicines investigated for myocardial infarction, and how we see they can help and support medical doctors in shaping the future of IHD treatments.Peer reviewe
