Hemocompatible hemoadsorbent for effective removal of protein-bound toxin in serum

Resin hemoperfusion is a life-saving treatment for drug intoxication or hepatic failure of patients. However, current resin adsorbents exhibit a limited hemocompatibility or low adsorption efficiency, representing a major roadblock to successful clinical applications. In this work, we developed a hemocompatible and effective hemoadsorbent based on polystyrene resin (H103) microparticles encapsulated in anti-biofouling zwitterionic poly(carboxybetaine) (PCB) hydrogels. Apart from a strong mechanical stability, this PCB-based adsorbent (PCB-H103) exhibited excellent hemocompatibility (hemolysis ratio was ∼0.64%), which was attributed to the anti-biofouling property of PCB hydrogel. In addition, it can efficiently adsorb both small and middle molecular weight molecules in phosphate-buffered saline, and the efficiencies were significantly higher than poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate-based and poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-based adsorbent counterparts, indicating the favorable permeability of PCB hydrogel coating. More importantly, PCB-H103 could effectively remove protein-bound toxins including phenol red and bilirubin in bovine serum albumin solution or even in 100% fetal bovine serum (FBS). In 100% FBS, the adsorption capacity of PCB-H103 towards bilirubin was 8.3 times higher than that of pristine clinical-scale resin beads. Findings in this work may provide a new strategy for the development of modern resin hemoperfusion technology.