Impact of a bioactive drug coating on the biocompatibility of magnesium alloys

Magnesium alloys are promising materials for biodegradable vascular stents because of their good biocompatibility and physical properties. The poly-beta-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) coating with vascular endothelial growth factor and heparin was prepared on the surface of WE magnesium alloys by layer-by-layer self-assembly technique. In this study, the effects of magnesium alloys with bioactive drug coating on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and blood compatibility were investigated. The results showed that magnesium alloys with bioactive drug coating could decrease platelet adhesion, platelet activation, hemolysis rate, fibrinogen adsorption and increase activated partial thromboplastin time, prothrombin time, dynamic clotting of magnesium alloys. In addition, magnesium alloys with bioactive drug coating did not alter cytoskeleton morphological features of HUVECs, promoted cell adhesion and cell growth, and inhibited cell apoptosis. Therefore, the magnesium alloys with bioactive drug coating can be considered as potential and degradable biomaterials for vascular stents.