Adsorption of proteins from plasma at polyester non-wovens

Polyester non-wovens in filters for the removal of leukocytes from platelet concentrates (PCs) must be platelet compatible. In PC filtration, the adsorption of proteins at the plasma-non-woven interface can be of great importance with respect to the yield of platelets. Unmodified and radio frequency glow discharge (RFGD) treated poly(ethylene terephthalate) non-woven (NW-PET) and two commercial surface-modified non-wovens were contacted with human plasma. Protein desorption by sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) was evaluated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The desorbed proteins were characterized by gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting. Compared to the commercial surface-modified non-wovens, unmodified and RFGD-treated NW-PETs adsorbed a relatively high amount of protein. Significantly more protein was removed from the hydrophobic NW-PET by SDS than from the hydrophilic RFGD-treated non-wovens. RFGD treatment of NW-PET reduces the reversibility of protein adsorption. Less albumin and fibrinogen were removed from the RFGD-treated non-wovens than from NW-PET. In addition, a large amount of histidine-rich glycoprotein was removed from RFGD-treated non-wovens, but not from NW-PET. The different behaviour of RFGFD-treated non-wovens towards protein adsorption is probably caused by differences in the chemical reactivity of the non-woven surfaces.