Acrylonitrile-acrylic acid copolymer membrane imprinted with uric acid for clinical uses

The preparation of new polymeric membranes using molecular imprinting technology for application in blood filtration devices is described. Membranes, based on an acrylic acid-acrylonitrile copolymer, produced through phase inversion, were modified by introducing specific binding sites for uric acid into their structure. The materials prepared are intended for use to selectively remove uric acid from the blood in the case of increased serum uric acid values associated with different pathologies. The interactions at a molecular level between the membrane forming copolymer and the template were investigated by means of calorimetry, infrared spectroscopy and morphological analysis. The presence of interactions between the template and the copolymer, and a good thermal stability of the imprinted membranes were observed. In addition, the results of rebinding tests on the imprinted membranes indicated a good capacity of molecular recognition for the template and satisfactory selectivity properties towards compounds of similar structure such as theophylline. Membrane permeability values suggest their application as (ultra) haemofiltration devices.