Plasma-treated PET surfaces improve the biocompatibility of human endothelial cells

Failures of small internal diameter vascular grafts have been caused by the lack of a stable endothelial lining to form on their artificial surfaces. Polymer surfaces can be optimized by means of proper treatment to allow a h omogeneous and uniform coverage in artificial prosthesis applications. Seve ral solutions were studied to improve cell attachment and growth on artific ial materials. Ln the present study, polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) surfac es were treated by plasma processes with oxygen and ammonia and also in the presence of a gas mixture to verify the effect of functional groups grafti ng onto the endothelial cell growth. Related surface chemical modifications were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Then using cy totoxicity and cytocompatibility tests, the biocompatibility of the modifie d PET surfaces was assessed by studying the behavior of human umbilical vei n endothelial cells (HUVEC). The results showed that plasma-treated PET sam ples have no toxic effect on HUVEC. The cytocompatibility tests revealed an increase in cell growth with incubation time and the presence of well-spre ad and flattened cells (SEM analyses). Thus it is reported that plasma trea tments can improve PET biocompatibility to HUVEC. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Son s, Inc.