PLGA from PolySciTech used for investigating blood interactions with metal alloys

PolySciTech (www.polyscitech.com) provides a wide array of biodegradable polymers including PLGA. Recently PLGA from PolySciTech was used for investigation of blood compatibility. Read more: Nguyen, Thanh Yen, Aaron F. Cipriano, Ren‐Guo Guan, Zhan‐Yong Zhao, and Huinan Liu. "In vitro interactions of blood, platelet, and fibroblast with biodegradable magnesium‐zinc‐strontium alloys." Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A (2015). http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jbm.a.35429/full

“Abstract: Magnesium (Mg) alloy is an attractive class of metallic biomaterial for cardiovascular applications due to its biodegradability and mechanical properties. In this study, we investigated the degradation in blood, thrombogenicity, and cytocompatibility of Magnesium-Zinc-Strontium (Mg-Zn-Sr) alloys, specifically four Mg-4 wt % Zn-xSr (x = 0.15, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 wt %) alloys, together with pure Mg control and relevant reference materials for cardiovascular applications. Human whole blood and platelet rich plasma (PRP) were used as the incubation media to investigate the degradation behavior of the Mg-Zn-Sr alloys. The results showed that the PRP had a greater pH increase and greater concentration of Mg2+ ions when compared with whole blood after 2 h of incubation with the same respective Mg alloys, suggesting that the Mg alloys degraded faster in PRP than in whole blood. The Mg alloy with 4 wt % Zn and 0.15 wt % Sr (named as ZSr41A) was identified as the most promising alloy for cardiovascular stent applications, because it showed slower degradation and less thrombogenicity, as indicated by the lower concentrations of Mg2+ ions released and less deposition of platelets. Additionally, ZSr41 alloys were cytocompatible with fibroblasts in direct exposure culture in which the cells adhered and proliferated around the samples, with no statistical difference in cell adhesion density compared with the blank reference. Future studies on the ZSr41 alloys are necessary to investigate their direct interactions with other important cells in cardiovascular system, such as vascular endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells. Keywords: magnesium-zinc-strontium alloys;biodegradable Mg-Zn-Sr alloys;blood;platelet;fibroblast;in vitro culture;cardiovascular applications”