Hydrophilic films: How hydrophilicity affects blood compatibility and cellular compatibility

Abstract Hydrophilic materials have been used in many fields, but have recently garnered growing attention in biomedicine. To promote the development and use of suitable hydrophilic materials for biomedical applications, we used three hydrophilic films of varying hydrophilicity and examined the effects of their hydrophilicity on blood compatibility, protein adsorption, blood clotting time, hemolytic activity, biocompatibility, and cell attachment. Across the spectrum of hydrophilicity examined, no obvious differences in biocompatibility were observed. While high material hydrophilicity was associated with higher hemolytic activity, it still fit the nonhemolytic criteria. Further, higher hydrophilicity decreased protein adsorption and cell attachment, but increased thromboresistance in our blood clotting time assay (~30% higher blood clotting index at 10 min). These results indicate that hydrophilicity increases blood compatibility with regard to thromboresistance, but reduces cellular compatibility (i.e., cell attachment), characteristics that could be exploited for a wide range of potential applications in various fields, such as glucose electrode test strips.