B. Wesslen et al., PROTEIN ADSORPTION OF POLY(ETHER URETHANE) SURFACES MODIFIED BY AMPHIPHILIC AND HYDROPHILIC POLYMERS, Biomaterials, 15(4), 1994, pp. 278-284
A commercial biomedical poly(ether urethane), Pellethane 2363-80AE, wa
s surface modified through the use of amphiphilic polymeric additives,
and through surface grafting with poly(ethylene glycol), PEG. Two dif
ferent amphiphilic polymers, Polymer C and Pluronic PE9400, were used
as additives. Polymer C, a segmented polyurethane, was prepared from P
EG1500, 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate and a C-16-C18 monoglyceride
chain extender. Pluronic PE9400 is a propylene oxide-ethylene oxide t
ri-block co-polymer obtained from BASF. Adsorption of human albumin an
d fibrinogen to the modified surfaces was studied by means of radiolab
elled proteins. By contact angle measurements and X-ray photoelectron
spectra the amphiphilic polymers were shown to accumulate at the polyu
rethane surfaces. Adsorption of fibrinogen, in particular, was signifi
cantly reduced by the amphiphilic additives to levels similar to those
obtained for Pellethane surfaces grafted with PEG 20000. In vitro clo
tting times for citrate-buffered blood in contact with the amphiphilic
surfaces increased as compared with the unmodified ones.