Biocompatibility of zwitterionic polymer-modified surface under acidic condition

Abstract

In this study, properties such as hydrophilicity and biocompatibility of surfaces prepared with 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) were evaluated under neutral to acidic conditions. The MPC-modified surface exhibit high hydrophilicity in neutral condition due to the ionization effect, while under acidic conditions below pH 3, the hydrophilicity gradually decreased due to the decrease in the negative charge of the PC groups. Biocompatibility property was evaluated by measuring the adsorption prevention effect against fibrinogen. The adsorption of fibrinogen was hardly observed on scanning electronic microscope (SEM) pictures under pH 7.6, which was significantly lower than that of the bare glass. However, the adsorption ratio increased under acidic conditions of pH 2.8 indicating a decrease in biocompatibility.