LAUSR

Surgical therapy (clipping) and endovascular therapy (coiling) are the main treatment options for people with cerebral aneurysms. In recent years, minimally invasive coil embolization has been recommended. However, the surgical method presents challenges in terms of the filling rate and operability, thus highlighting the need for a novel embolization material. In this study, injectable inclusion complexes for cerebral aneurysm treatment were prepared by α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) and hydrophobically modified poly(vinyl alcohol) (hm-PVA) with various alkyl chain lengths (3, 9, and 18). 2D-NMR NOESY spectra indicated that a threaded inclusion complex was formed between α-CD and hm-PVA. By mixing hm-PVAs with different concentrations of α-CD, only hm-PVA (5 mol% nonanal-modified PVA (5C9-PVA)) with 15 mM α-CD showed good thixotropic properties. In addition, this inclusion complex showed gel–sol transition behavior under different strain amplitudes (1 and 1000%). The α-CD/5C9-PVA inclusion complex showed good injectability, even when using a 25 G needle. After injecting the α-CD/5C9-PVA inclusion complex into an in vitro cerebral aneurysm model, it formed aggregates in phosphate buffer solution at 37 °C and filled the whole area. These results demonstrate that the α-CD/5C9-PVA inclusion complex could be an ideal material for cerebral aneurysm treatment. Injectable inclusion complex for cerebral aneurysm treatment were prepared by α-cyclodextrin (α-CD) and hydrophobically modified poly(vinyl alcohol) (hm-PVA). The α-CD/hm-PVA inclusion complex with thixotropic properties can easily be injected into the cerebral aneurysm site using a catheter. Due to the recovery of physical crosslinks (hydrophobic and hydrogen bonding interactions), the α-CD/hm-PVA inclusion complex can stably fill in cerebral aneurysms. Finally, stable hm-PVA gel formation enabled embolization of the cerebral aneurysm after α-CD release.