Multifarious anti-biofouling bioprosthetic heart valve materials with the formation of interpenetrating polymer network structures

Abstract

The bioprosthetic heart valve (BHV) has attracted considerable attention in clinical practice. However, complications of the BHV such as thrombosis, calcification, and early deterioration after implantation have limited further applications. In the present study, we provide a strategy to fabricate an anti-biofouling BHV by constructing interpenetrating polymer network structures on both inner and outer valve materials. We systematically investigated the morphologies, wetting properties, elemental compositions, stability of the extracellular matrix, transparency, mechanical properties, and anti-biofouling properties (e.g., anti-cell adhesion, resistance to bovine serum albumin protein adsorption, anticoagulant properties, and anti-calcification properties) of the modified BHV via both in vitro and in vivo experiments. Compared to the BHV without coating treatment, treated with heparin, or treated with a hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane coating, the BHV treated with a hydrophilic coating containing both polyacrylic acid and polydimethylsiloxane exhibited better multifarious anti-biofouling properties. Our findings provide a method for the preparation of multi-antifouling medical materials with better synergistic hemocompatibility and anti-calcification.

Keywords

• Anti-biofouling
• Hydrophobic coating
• Hydrophilic coating
• Polydimethylsiloxane
• Interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) structures