Evaluation of zwitterionic starch filler in thermoset polyurethanes on the antithrombogenicity activity as candidates for cardiovascular applications

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases have increased worldwide due to post complications generated by SARS-Cov-2 illness, and bad food habits settled after quarantine suffered from this situation. In this context, demand for vascular grafts has increased because these devices are used to solve obstructions of blood vessels. However, the autologous graft availability is low and synthetic materials used for these cardiovascular devices have shown low thromboresistance over frame time. Polyurethanes implemented in this field have shown good mechanical properties and biocompatibility. Nevertheless, thrombogenicity activity is high yet in comparison with autologous graft. Some efforts as surface, chemical backbone modifications and inclusion of fillers in polyurethanes have shown an improvement in anti-thrombogenicity activity in the short term, but this increase in this activity did not remain over the years. In the last years, zwitterionic moieties have been a tendency due to their anti-fouling properties, which prevent no-specific adsorption protein and the activation of cascade coagulation. These moieties have been included at the surface and inside the chemical backbone of polyurethanes. However, the inclusion of these compounds at the surface did not stay over time due to the shear force caused by blood flow. Additionally, the chemical modification of polyurethanes affects their mechanical properties to a significant degree. Therefore, this research studied the influence of addition potato and zwitterionic starch (at 1, 2 and 3%w/w) as fillers in polyurethane matrices obtained from polycaprolactone diol (PCL), polyethylene glycol (PEG), pentaerythritol (PE), and isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) on their physicochemical, mechanical thermal, and biological properties.