Effects of polymer-coated boron nitrides with increased hemorheological compatibility on human erythrocytes and blood coagulation

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Kim, Jeongho^{a; 1} | Nafiujjaman, Md^{b; 1} | Nurunnabi, Md^c | Lim, Sinye^d | Lee, Yong-Kyu^{b; e; *} | Park, Hun-Kuk^{a; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea | [b] Department of Green Bioengineering, Korea National University of Transportation, Chunbuk, Republic of Korea | [c] Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, MA, USA | [d] Department of Occupational & Environmental Medicine, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea | [e] Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Korea National University of Transportation, Chunbuk, Republic of Korea

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding authors: Hun-Kuk Park, Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 961 0290; E-mail: sigmoidus@khu.ac.kr and Yong-Kyu Lee, Department of Green Bioengineering, Korea National University of Transportation, Daehak-ro, Chungju-si, Chunbuk 380-702, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 43 841 5224; E-mail: leeyk@ut.ac.kr.

Note: [1] These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: BACKGROUND:Boron nitride (BN) nanomaterials are promising in biomedical research owing to their large surface area, graphene-like structure, and chemical and thermal properties. However, the toxicological effects of BN on erythrocytes and blood coagulation remain uninvestigated. OBJECTIVE:The aims of our study were to synthesize glycol chitosan (GC)- and hyaluronic acid (HA)-coated BNs, and to investigate the effects of these BNs on human cancer cells, erythrocytes, and whole blood. METHODS:We prepared hemocompatible forms of BN coated with GC and HA, and evaluated them using cell uptake/viability tests, hemolysis analysis and FE-SEM, as well as through hemorheological evaluation methods such as RBC deformability and aggregation, and blood coagulation. RESULTS:GC/BN and HA/BN were both ∼200 nm, were successfully taken into cells, and emitted blue fluorescence. Both BNs were less toxic than bare BN, even at higher concentrations. The aggregation index of human red blood cells (RBCs) after 2 h incubation with BN, GC/BN, and HA/BN was greatly influenced, whereas RBC deformability did not dramatically change. CONCLUSIONS:We found that GC/BN affected the intrinsic coagulation pathway, whereas both GC/BN and HA/BN affected the extrinsic pathway. Therefore, HA/BN is less detrimental to RBCs and blood coagulation dynamics than bare BN and GC/BN.

Keywords: Boron nitride, cytotoxicity, erythrocyte, hemolysis, hemorheology, coagulation

DOI: 10.3233/CH-170307

Journal: Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation, vol. 70, no. 3, pp. 241-256, 2018