In vitro biocompatibility evaluation of biscoumarin based random copolyesters

Abstract

Polymeric materials find versatile applications in various biomedical disciplines but lack cytocompatibility; this may be attributed to the nature of the polymeric materials. More particularly, the choice of a suitable bioactive monomer incorporated into the polymer chain determines the compatibility of the polymeric material. This has motivated the generation of biscoumarin based copolyesters. In the present investigation, a series of biscoumarin copolyesters (CP1–CP7) were evaluated for their in vitro haemocompatibility, cytotoxicity and antioxidant activities. The aim of this study was to review the results and assess the suitability of a series of structurally divergent biscoumarin copolyesters as operable biocompatible polymeric materials in various medical disciplines. Haemolysis studies have been performed to verify the haemocompatibility of the copolyesters. A 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazine (DPPH) radical scavenging assay was performed to evaluate the antioxidant activities of the copolyesters. A (4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide-based (MTT) cytotoxicity assay was performed against the normal Vero cell line to assess the cytocompatibility of the copolyesters. All the copolyesters exhibited low cytotoxicity even at higher concentrations against the Vero cell line in an IC₅₀ range of 290–463 μg ml⁻¹. The cancerous Hep-2 cell line was more sensitive to the cytotoxic activity of copolyester CP5 compared to the normal Vero cells. The haemolysis results of the copolyesters were in the range of 4.47–8.95%. A curcumin coupled copolyester exhibited very good antioxidant activity, while the remaining copolyesters exhibited low antioxidant activities. This may be attributed to the considerable structural dependence of the radical scavenging activity of DPPH. The outcomes of these assessments manifest the importance of biscoumarin copolyesters as suitable biocompatible materials.