Tetraglyme coatings reduce fibrinogen and von Willebrand factor adsorption and platelet adhesion under both static and flow conditions.

Previous studies have showed that radio-frequency plasma deposited tetraglyme coatings greatly reduced fibrinogen adsorption (Gamma(Fg)) from highly diluted plasmas (0.1 and 1%) and subsequent platelet adhesion under static conditions. In this study, the protein resistant properties of tetraglyme were re-examined with high-concentration plasma, and subsequent platelet adhesion was measured under both static and flow conditions. The resistance of tetraglyme to vWf adsorption (Gamma(vWf)) and the role of vWf in platelet adhesion under flow were also investigated. Gamma(Fg) and Gamma(vWf) were measured with (125)I radiolabeled proteins. Flow studies were done at shear rates of 50 or 500 s(-1) by passing a platelet/red cell suspension through a GlycoTech flow chamber. When adsorbed from a series of increasing plasma concentrations, the adsorption of both proteins to tetraglyme increased steadily, and did not show a peak at intermediate dilutions, i.e., there was no Vroman effect. When plasma concentration was less than 10%, the tetraglyme surface was highly nonfouling, exhibiting ultralow Gamma(Fg) (less than 5 ng/cm(2)) and extremely low platelet adhesion under both static and flow conditions. However, when the adsorption was done from 100% plasma, Gamma(Fg) was much higher ( approximately 85 ng/cm(2)), indicating that tetraglyme surface may not be sufficiently protein-resistant in the physiological environment. To correlate platelet adhesion under flow with Gamma(Fg) and Gamma(vWf), a series of tetraglyme surfaces varying in ether content and protein adsorption was created by varying deposition power. On these surfaces, platelet adhesion at low shear rate depended only on the amount of Gamma(Fg), but under high shear, both Gamma(Fg) and Gamma(vWf) affected platelet adhesion. In particular, it was found that Gamma(vWf) must be reduced to less than 0.4 ng/cm(2) to achieve ultra low platelet adhesion under high shear.