Nitric oxide releasing silicone rubbers with improved blood compatibility: preparation, characterization, and in vivo evaluation.

Nitric oxide (NO) releasing silicone rubbers (SR) are prepared via a three-step reaction scheme. A diamino triaminoalkyltrimethoxysilane crosslinker is used to vulcanize hydroxyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) in the presence of ambient moisture and a dibutyltin dilaurate catalyst so that the respective diamine triamine groups are covalently linked to the cured SR structure. These amine sites are then diazeniumdiolated, in situ, when the cured SR is reacted with NO at elevated pressure (80 psi). Although nitrite species are also formed during the NO addition reaction, in most cases the diazeniumdiolated polymer is the major product within the final SR matrix. Temperature appears to be the major driving force for the dissociation of the attached diazeniumdiolate moieties, whereas the presence of bulk water bathing the SR materials has only minimal effect on the observed NO release rate owing to the low water uptake of the SR matrices. The resulting SR films/coatings release NO at ambient or physiological temperature for up to 20 d with average fluxes of at least 4 x 10(10) mol x cm(-2) x min(-1) (coating thickness > or = 600 microm) over first 4 h, comparable to the NO fluxes observed from stimulated human endothelial cells. The NO loading and concomitant NO release flux of the SR material are readily adjustable by altering the diamine triamine loading and film/coating thickness. The new NO releasing SR materials are shown to exhibit improved thromboresistance in vivo, as demonstrated via reduced platelet activation on the surface of these polymers when used to coat the inner walls of SR tubings employed for extracorporeal circulation in a rabbit model.