身体体对异物的排异阻碍了植入式电子医疗设备（例如心脏起搏器和人工耳蜗）的长期使用。最近，在一项小鼠研究中，由剑桥大学科学家领导的一项研究发现，通过在植入物周围的有机硅涂层中加入抗炎药，可以显着减少这种排异。

科学家们将一种电子装置植入小鼠体内以补偿坐骨神经损伤，并将周围组织内的反应与未接受植入物的小鼠的反应进行比较。除了使用正常小鼠外，研究人员还使用了控制炎症反应的基因被“摘除”的小鼠，从而阻止了反应。

这使研究小组能够了解身体的炎症反应是如何产生排异反应的，以及涉及哪些基因。反过来，这表明一种称为 NLRP3 的特定分子起着关键作用。随后，研究人员在设备涂层中添加了一种称为 MCC950 的小分子，并在小鼠身上测试了其效果。MCC950 先前已被证明可抑制 NLRP3 的活性。他们发现这可以防止排异反应而不影响组织再生。这与地塞米松治疗形成鲜明对比，地塞米松治疗可以防止异物反应，但也会阻止神经再生。

NLRP3 抑制剂正在开发用于多种临床应用，包括炎症性疾病、癌症、败血症、阿尔茨海默病和帕金森病。它们已经在针对某些条件的临床试验中进行测试。

Long-term use of implantable electronic medical devices – such as pacemakers and cochlear implants – is hampered by the body’s reaction to foreign bodies. Now, in a study in mice, a team led by scientists at the University of Cambridge has shown that this reaction can be dramatically reduced by incorporating an anti-inflammatory drug into the silicone coating around the implant.

Scientists implanted an electrical device into mice to compensate for sciatic nerve damage and compared the response within the surrounding tissue to that in mice who did not receive an implant. As well as using normal mice, the researchers used mice whose genes controlling the inflammatory response had been ‘knocked out’, preventing a response.

This allowed the team to see how the body’s inflammatory response generated the foreign body reaction, and which genes were involved. In turn, this showed that a particular molecule known as NLRP3 plays a key role.

The researchers then added a small molecule known as MCC950 to the device coating and tested its effect in the mice. MCC950 has previously been shown to inhibit the activity of NLRP3. They found that this prevented the foreign body reaction without affecting tissue regeneration. This contrasted with dexamethasone treatment, which prevents the foreign body reaction but also blocks nerve regeneration.

NLRP3 inhibitors are being developed for a number of clinical applications including inflammatory disease, cancer, sepsis, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. They are already being tested in clinical trials for certain conditions.