Preparation, blood coagulation and cell compatibility evaluation of chitosan-graft-polylactide copolymers

Biodegradable chitosan-graft-polylactide (PLA-CS) copolymers were prepared by the grafting of a poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) or poly(D-lactide) (PDLA) precursor to the backbone of chitosan using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC ⋅ HCl) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) as a coupling agent. The blood and cell compatibility of the graft copolymers were investigated in comparison to PLLA and PDLA homopolymers. The coagulation properties of PLA-CS were evaluated by hemolysis, plasma recalcification, dynamic blood clotting and protein absorption assays. PLA-CS copolymers present similar hemolysis ratio and plasma recalcification time as PLA, but slower dynamic blood clotting and lower protein absorption. The cell viability was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), agar diffusion and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) experiments. All the samples presented no effect on the viability to cells. Inflammatory cytokine analysis using sandwich ELISAs revealed that PLA-CS would not stimulate inflammatory activity.