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Citric acid functionalized nitinol stent surface promotes endothelial cell healing
Miriama Ceresnakova1, David Murray2, Kieran D McGourty1
1Department of Chemical Sciences, Bernal Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
Journal of Biomedical Materials Research. Part A
|February 24, 2021
Summary
Citric acid functionalized stents enhance endothelial cell regrowth, improving vascular healing. This novel approach shows potential for preventing restenosis after stenting.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Vascular Biology
- Medical Device Engineering
Background:
- Drug-eluting stents (DES) with anti-proliferative agents inhibit smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation but delay endothelialization, risking restenosis.
- Acidic extracellular environments can enhance cell adhesion and migration by altering integrin conformation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the feasibility of citric acid (CA) functionalized nitinol stents for enhanced vascular biocompatibility and endothelialization.
- To compare the re-endothelialization potential of CA-functionalized stents against commercial bare metal stents (BMS) and paclitaxel-eluting stents (DES).
Main Methods:
- Developed a stent-conditioned media methodology to simulate in vivo conditions for testing stent coatings.
- Compared endothelial cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation on CA-functionalized nitinol stents versus Zilver Flex (BMS) and Zilver PTX (DES) stents.
Main Results:
- CA-functionalized nitinol stents demonstrated superior endothelial cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation compared to Zilver Flex BMS and Zilver PTX DES.
- The study identified distinct advantages of the CA-functionalized stent surface for promoting endothelialization.
Conclusions:
- Citric acid functionalization of nitinol stents shows significant potential for improving vascular biocompatibility and promoting re-endothelialization.
- CA-functionalized stents could serve as a bioactive surface, potentially in combination with anti-proliferative coatings, to prevent restenosis.
