Encapsulated Hemoglobin as an Artificial Oxygen Carrier

Vibhudutta Awasthi, Beth A. Goins, and William T. Phillips 

Department of Radiology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, 

Northfield, Illinois, Polyheme cross-linked Phase III (6,7) 

One approach to compartmentalize hemoglobin is to encapsulate hemoglobin in biodegradable polymer-PEG-polylactide (30). These nanocapsules have a diameter of 80-150 nm and contain superoxide dismutase, catalase, carbonic anhydrase, and other enzymes of Embden-Meyerhof pathway that are needed for long-term function of an oxygen carrier (31,32). The polylactide capsules are metabolized in vivo to water and carbon 

LEH is primarily composed of a combination of saturated high-carbon phospholipids and cholesterol. Synthetic phospholipids replaced hydrogenated soy lecithin when the latter was found to induce several untoward biological responses (40). Current choice of a saturated high-carbon phospholipid is mostly between distearoyl phosphatidylcholine (DSPC, 55°C) and 

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Liposome-Encapsulated Hemoglobin as an Artificial Oxygen Carrier... 

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