Author(s)

Carole Verhaegen¹, Sophie Lepropre¹, Marie Octave¹, Davide Brusa², Luc Bertrand¹, Christophe Beauloye^1,3, Pascal J. Jacques⁴, Joelle Kefer^1,3, Sandrine Horman^1*

¹Pôle de Recherche Cardiovasculaire, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Brussels, Belgium.
²Plateforme de Cytométrie de Flux, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Brussels, Belgium.
³Division of Cardiology, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Brussels, Belgium.
⁴Department of Materials and Process Engineering, Institute of Mechanics, Materials and Civil Engineering, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Brussels, Belgium.

A current challenge concerns developing new bioresorbable stents that combine optimal mechanical properties and biodegradation rates with limited thrombogenicity. In this context, twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) steels are good material candidates. In this work, the hemocompatibility of a new TWIP steel was studied in vitro via hemolysis and platelet activation assessments. Cobalt chromium (CoCr) L605 alloy, pure iron (Fe), and magnesium (Mg) WE43 alloy were similarly studied for comparison. No hemolysis was induced by TWIP steel, pure Fe, or L605 alloy. Moreover, L605 alloy did not affect CD62P exposure, αIIbβ3 activation at the platelet surface, or phosphorylation of protein kinase C (PKC) substrates upon thrombin stimulation. In contrast, TWIP steel and pure Fe significantly decreased platelet response to the agonist. Given that similar inhibitory effects were obtained when using a conditioned medium previously incubated with TWIP steel, we postulated TWIP steel corrosion to be likely to release components counteracting platelet activation. We showed that the main ion form present in the conditioned medium is Fe³⁺. In conclusion, TWIP steel resorbable scaffold displays anti-thrombogenic properties in vitro, which suggests that it could be a promising platform for next-generation stent technologies.

Stent, TWIP Steel, Platelet, Biomaterial, Hemocompatibility

Verhaegen, C. , Lepropre, S. , Octave, M. , Brusa, D. , Bertrand, L. , Beauloye, C. , Jacques, P. , Kefer, J. and Horman, S. (2019) Bioreactivity of Stent Material: In Vitro Impact of New Twinning-Induced Plasticity Steel on Platelet Activation. Journal of Biomaterials and Nanobiotechnology, 10, 175-189. doi: 10.4236/jbnb.2019.104010.