Shear-induced platelet activation and adhesion on human pulmonary artery endothelial cells seeded onto hydrophilic polymers.

We evaluated platelet activation and adhesion on two plasma polymerized surfaces, N-vinyl pyrrolidone (NVP) and gamma-butyro lactone (GBL), which have been shown previously to promote endothelial cell growth and adhesion as well as fibronectin-coated glass (1 microg/cm(2)) coverslips. Human pulmonary artery endothelial cells were seeded onto coverslips at a low density ( approximately 20,000 cells/cm(2)) and grown to confluence (3-5 days). The materials, both with and without ECs, were then exposed to a shear rate of 400 s(-1) in a closed loop recirculating flow system containing human platelet-rich plasma. Plasma samples were taken at 0, 5, 15, 30, and 60 min and analyzed for platelet and coagulation activation. The coverslips were examined for EC coverage and platelet adherence. EC retention over a 1-h period was approximately 75% for all three materials. All three materials without ECs were highly platelet activating having similar P-selectin expression, platelet factor 4 (PF4) release, mepacrine uptake, and microparticle production. Both microparticle production and platelet adhesion were significantly lower in EC-seeded materials. Dense granule and PF4 release were both slightly diminished in all three materials seeded with ECs. P-selectin expression was reduced slightly for GBL, but remained the same for the other two materials. The EC-seeded materials displayed favorable characteristics with respect to platelet activation and adhesion; however, they still demonstrated some thrombogenic tendencies due to EC loss and exposure of the underlying substrate. Therefore, both EC coverage and EC hemostatic function are important factors in determining the thromboresistance of an EC-seeded surface. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 57: 419-431, 2001