ABSTRACT
Extracorporeal affinity therapies are directed at the removal of potential toxic substances including bilirubin, pathogenic antibodies, various circulating immune-complexes, cholesterol and so on from human plasma. The conventional extracorporeal therapies including plasma exchange, hemodialysis, hemofiltration and hemoperfusion are nonselective techniques. In addition, the requirement for plasma substitutes such as albumin is very high. Moreover, the dangers of hepatitis or immune reactions accompany these therapies while using plasma for plasma products. Today, one of the most promising procedures for extracorporeal therapy is specific affinity adsorption. Affinity adsorbents including nanoparticles, microspheres, membranes, monoliths, fibres and hollow fibres may be used in a hemoperfusion system, where blood is directly perfused through the column. Among these adsorbents, cryogels are considered a reasonable option for the removal of toxic substances from plasma. This type of application is effective, simple and inexpensive. In this chapter, some interesting cryogel applications on extracorporeal affinity therapies for the removal of toxic
14.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 388 14.2 Affinity Therapy in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus ................................... 389 14.3 Affinity Therapy in Hyperbilirubinemia ...................................................... 393 14.4 Affinity Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis ................................................... 397 14.5 Affinity Therapy in Thalassemia .................................................................. 399 14.6 Affinity Therapy in Hypercholesterolemia ...................................................403 14.7 Other Applications ........................................................................................409 14.8 Concluding Remarks .................................................................................... 411 List of Abbreviations .............................................................................................. 411 References .............................................................................................................. 411
substances from human plasma are briefly reviewed. For more applications of cryogels, the reader can find some interesting biomedical uses of cryogels.
