Platelet adhesion from human blood to bare and protein‐coated polymer surfaces

Abstract

Abstract A static platelet adhesion test using whole human blood was employed to assess the affinity of various bare polymer (sulfonated polystyrene, acetal resin, Teflon FEP, polystyrene) surfaces as well as various surfaces of glass and polymers that were coated with plasma proteins. Platelet adhesion to the bare polymer surfaces was found to increase with increasing solid surface tension of the substrate. With protein‐coated glass and polymer surfaces, however, platelet adhesion did not follow the above pattern; more platelets adhered to the fibrinogen‐coated surfaces than to albumin‐coated surfaces. The solid surface tension of the underlying substrate also influenced the adhesion of platelets to the protein‐coated surfaces; platelet adhesion to the proteincoated high‐energy sulfonated polystyrene substrates was found to be greater than to the corresponding protein‐coated lower‐energy substrates of acetal resin and Teflon FEP.