A polymer-free Paclitaxel eluting coronary stent: effects of solvents, drug concentrations and coating methods

Some polymer coatings used in drug-eluting stents (DES) cause adverse reactions. Hence, the use of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) as a polymer-free platform to deliver an anti-proliferative drug (paclitaxel-PAT) from 2D metal substrates was previously demonstrated. In this study, we optimized the PAT coating on SAMs coated 3D coronary stents. For the optimization process, we investigated the effects of solvents (ethanol, DMSO, and their mixtures), drug concentrations (2, 3, 4, 8, and 12 mg/mL) in the coating solution, and coating methods (dip and spray) on PAT deposition. A solvent mixture of 75:25 v/v Et-OH:DMSO was determined to be the best for obtaining smooth and homogenous PAT coating. PAT coated stents prepared using 8 mg/mL and 3 mg/mL concentrations of PAT by dip and spray coating methods, respectively, were optimal in terms of carrying adequate drug doses (0.35 µg/mm(2) for dipping and 0.76 µg/mm(2) for spraying) as well as negligible defects observed in the coating. PAT was successfully released from SAMs coated stents in a biphasic manner with an initial burst followed by a sustained release for up to 10 weeks. Thus, this study sheds light on the effects of solvents, drug concentrations, and coating methods on preparing a polymer-free DES.