Nitric oxide releasing material adsorbs more fibrinogen.

Abstract

One mechanism of the failure of blood-contacting devices is clotting. Nitric oxide (NO) releasing materials are seen as a viable solution to the mediation of surface clotting by preventing platelet activation; however, NO's involvement in preventing clot formation extends beyond controlling platelet function. In this study, we evaluate NO's effect on factor XII (fibrinogen) adsorption and activation, which causes the initiation of the intrinsic arm of the coagulation cascade. This is done by utilizing a model plasticized poly(vinyl) chloride (PVC), N-diazeniumdiolate system and looking at the adsorption of fibrinogen, an important clotting protein, to these surfaces. The materials have been prepared in such a way to eliminate changes in surface properties between the control (plasticized PVC) and composite (NO-releasing) materials. This allows us to isolate NO release and determine the effect on the adsorption of fibrinogen, to the material surface. Surprisingly, it was found that an NO releasing material with a surface flux of 17.4 ± 0.5 × 10(-10) mol NO cm(-2) min(-1) showed a significant increase in the amount of fibrinogen adsorbed to the material surface compared to one with a flux of 13.0 ± 1.6 × 10(-10) mol NO cm(-2) min(-1) and the control (2334 ± 496, 226 ± 99, and 103 ±31% fibrinogen adsorbed of control, respectively). This study suggests that NO's role in controlling clotting is extended beyond platelet activation.