title: The haemocompatibility of polyurethane-hyaluronic acid copolymers.
abstract: Despite decades of research into haemocompatible biomaterials, there remain surprisingly few materials that can be used in blood-contacting applications. We have synthesized copolymers of polyurethane (PU) with hyaluronic acid (HA) with the goal of creating materials that incorporate an inherently non-thrombogenic, biological component into the bulk polymer structure. HA was incorporated into the polymer backbone as a chain extender during PU synthesis, and the physical and biological properties of the resulting copolymer were directly controlled by the HA content. Increases in HA content led to a linear increase in hydrophilicity (R(2)=0.993) and corresponding increase in surface energy compared to PU controls. Elastic modulus also increased with HA content (p<0.001), while surface roughness did not significantly differ from PU controls for most PU-HA formulations. Incorporation of HA resulted in negligible platelet adhesion to the PU-HA (p<0.001), representing a 20-fold decrease in platelet adhesion compared to PU. Red blood cell adhesion also decreased with increasing HA content (p<0.001). The PU-HA materials were cytocompatible and supported endothelial cell adhesion and viability. Thus, we have demonstrated the synthesis of a copolymer whose physical and biological properties are easily tailored, and whose potent anti-thrombogenic properties demonstrate its great promise for use in vascular applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1550 Engineering Drive, #2152, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Fangmin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Nacker
authors.forename: Wendy C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Crone
authors.forename: Kristyn S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Masters
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000166:cytology; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D011140:Polyurethanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011140:Polyurethanes; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid