Development of vitamin E-modified polysulfone membrane dialyzers

Abstract

Oxygen radicals have recently been attracting close attention because of their involvement in tissue damage and their close relationship to various clinical conditions. It has been suggested that hemodialysis increases oxidative stress, triggering the development of complications such as atherosclerosis and dialysis-related amyloidosis. We recently developed a dialyzer containing a highly functional polysulfone membrane on which vitamin E had been bonded (PS-ViE). The present study was undertaken to evaluate the biocompatibility of this membrane and to conduct other experiments on the membrane in vitro. Human blood was dialyzed with minidialyzers (300-600 cm(2) membrane area) made of PS-ViE, cellulose, or untreated polusulfone (PS), and the effects of the dialyzers on complements (C3a, C4a, and C5a), cytokines (IL-1beta and IL-8), and granulocyte elastase as well as their anti-oxidative activity were investigated (n = 6). The effect of PS-ViE on complement activation and its effects on cytokines were comparable to those of PS membrane, whereas granulocyte elastase following dialysis with the PS-ViE membrane tended to be lower than that seen with PS membrane. The effects of PS-ViE-induced methemoglobin, lipid peroxide, and oxygen radicals were significantly less than those of PS membrane, indicating the antioxidative activity of PS-ViE. Vitamin E-modified polysulfone membrane dialyzers were found to have favorable effects on the immune system and to express antithrombotic and antioxidative effects.

Effects of vitamin E-coated dialysis membranes on anemia, nutrition and dyslipidemia status in hemodialysis patients: a meta-analysis

“…In the 1990s, a cellulosic hollow-fiber dialyzers coated with vitamin E on the blood surface was developed by the Terumo Corporation with triple goals of better filtration, an improvement in biocompatibility and antioxidant bioactivity. 31 Soon afterward, vitamin E-coated polysulfone dialyzer was developed, 32 which has such excellent properties as good biocompatibility, clearance, permeability, and is easy to process. In addition, a number of clinical studies and metaanalysis have demonstrated that the anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects of these vitamin E modified dialyzers reflected by the decreasing of circulating biomarkers (e.g., CRP, IL-6 and oxLDL levels).…”

Vitamin E as a Functional and Biocompatibility Modifier of Synthetic Hemodialyzer Membranes: An Overview of the Literature on Vitamin E-Modified Hemodialyzer Membranes

“…Vitamin E, as α-tocopherol (α-TOC) (fig. 2), has been used to modify both cellulosic and polysulfone (PS) copolymers that are now available to produce hollow-fiber hemodialyzer membranes [recently reviewed in [12,13]] (fig. 1, right panel).…”

A Vitamin E-Coated Polysulfone Membrane Reduces Serum Levels of Inflammatory Markers and Resistance to Erythropoietin-Stimulating Agents in Hemodialysis Patients: Results of a Randomized Cross-Over Multicenter Trial

“…The ultimate goal of using this vitamin was to increase the biocompatibility and to prevent the oxidative stress that is related to leukocyte oxidative burst, and other inflammation-related effects that may result from the interaction between blood constituents and cellulosic fibers [10]. More recently, in order to produce more biocompatible biomaterials, vitamin E has been coated on a polysulfone-based dialysis membrane [11], and this new vitamin E-coated polysulfone membrane has been demonstrated to have a redox capacity and to actively react with redox-active substances in the blood [12]. …”