Biocompatible, biodegradable, and anticancer alginate-quercetin ureteral stent via co-axial extrusion technique

Ureteral stents (US) are used as interventional medical implants in the treatment and surgery of urinary tract infections (UTIs). This study reported a new formulation of alginate-quercetin (AQ) based US through a co-axial extrusion procedure for the first time to afford a 26 cm long US with 3.2×1.7 mm external and internal diameter. The mechanical strength such as tensile strength and compression deformation was evaluated in dry and wet form. The stents were characterized through FESEM, FTIR, and XRD to check their morphology, functional groups, and amorphous or crystalline form-similarly, the hydrophilicity/hydrophilicity was observed on contact angle. All the stent formulations showed no cytotoxic effect in CCK-8 assay against human ureteral smooth muscle cells (HUSMC), and human umbilical vein endothelial cell lines (HUVECs) and are confirmed as biocompatible. Similarly, all the formulations exhibited strong anticancer activity against 786-0 and Caki-1 kidney cancer cell lines in the CCK-8 assay. Furthermore, the stent retains its shape and hollow cavity till day 12 in the artificial urine (AU) and is completely degraded on day 16. No change in the pH of the AU was observed during degradation in the AU solution. The current design shows a fast and reliable casting technique for the US, which will open a new window in the designing and manufacturing of the natural biopolymer-based US.