Biocompatibility of Plasma-Treated Polymeric Implants

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the main causes of mortality in the modern world. Scientist all around the world are trying to improve medical treatment, but the success of the treatment significantly depends on the stage of disease progression. In the last phase of disease, the treatment is possible only by implantation of artificial graft. Most commonly used materials for artificial grafts are polymer materials. Despite different industrial procedures for graft fabrication, their properties are still not optimal. Grafts with small diameters (<6 mm) are the most problematic, because the platelets are more likely to re-adhere. This causes thrombus formation. Recent findings indicate that platelet adhesion is primarily influenced by blood plasma proteins that adsorb to the surface immediately after contact of a synthetic material with blood. Fibrinogen is a key blood protein responsible for the mechanisms of activation, adhesion and aggregation of platelets. Plasma treatment is considered as one of the promising methods for improving hemocompatibility of synthetic materials. Another method is endothelialization of materials with Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial cells, thus forming a uniform layer of endothelial cells on the surface. Extensive literature review led to the conclusion that in this area, despite numerous studies there are no available standardized methods for testing the hemocompatibility of biomaterials. In this review paper, the most promising methods to gain biocompatibility of synthetic materials are reported; several hypotheses to explain the improvement in hemocompatibility of plasma treated polymer surfaces are proposed.

ECM-Mimetic Nylon Nanofiber Scaffolds for Neurite Growth Guidance

“…For quantitative assessment, we seeded IMR-32 cells on nanofiber samples with different ultrastructure and monitored cell viability and proliferation. The surface of the nanofibers was not additionally modified with compounds that promote cell adhesion, such as poly-D-lysine, polyethyleneimine, collagen or laminin, but instead was treated with plasma to enhance the adsorption of proteins from the cell medium [ 32 ]. The results obtained by confocal microscopy are shown in Figure 2 A and Figure S1 .…”

Surface Modification to Improve Properties of Materials

“…These requirements are contradictory; therefore, researchers worldwide are investigating methods for producing such a surface finish that would meet all requirements. A review paper on recent advances in biocompatibility of plasma-treated polymeric implants was prepared by Recek [47]. An extensive literature review led to the conclusion that there are actually no available standardized methods for testing the hemocompatibility of biomaterials.…”

Nanostructured Polystyrene Doped with Acetylsalicylic Acid and Its Antibacterial Properties

“…The well-known fact based on several published articles [36][37][38] is that changes in surface wettability and inducing of oxygen-containing groups may significantly affect both the antibacterial properties and biocompatibility of surfaces for selected cell lines. Cytocompatibility may be also affected by increased surface roughness [39]. The values of roughness may exceed hundreds of nanometers, so that the influence of surface morphology on wettability can also be the important factor [40].…”