20.500.12556/DiRROS-21579 Improved adhesion and biocompatibility of chitosan-coated super-hydrophilic PVC polymer substrates for urothelial catheters Chitosan is a water-soluble polysaccharide with good adherence to negatively charged surfaces and reported antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. Coating the surfaces of medical devices with chitosan is a promising strategy for harnessing these benefits. However, the surface properties of commercial polymers need to be altered to enable the bonding of thin chitosan films. In this study, the adhesion of chitosan onto plasma-treated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and the metabolic activity of urothelial cells on chitosan-coated medical-grade PVC used for the synthesis of urinary catheters were evaluated. To improve the adhesion of chitosan onto the PVC catheters, PVC samples were made “super-hydrophilic”. PVC substrates were briefly treated with a powerful hydrogen plasma and weakly ionised oxygen plasma afterglow to obtain a chlorine-free surface film, which was rich in oxygen functional groups, followed by incubation of the plasma-treated substrates in an aqueous solution of chitosan. Then, urothelial RT4 cells were seeded on the treated and untreated PVC substrates, and their metabolic activity, confluency, and cell morphology were examined. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to measure the nitrogen concentration, which corresponded to the chitosan concentration on the substrate. The results showed that the substrates were uniformly covered by a thin layer of chitosan only on plasma-treated surfaces and not on untreated surfaces. Moreover, the chitosan coating provided a stimulated environment for cell adhesion and growth. In conclusion, the chitosan-coated super-hydrophilic PVC substrate shows potential to improve the overall performance and safety of medical devices such as urinary catheters. medical-grade PVC chitosan coating urinary catheter urothelial cells cytotoxicity adhesion biocompatibility medicinski material PVC prevleka iz hitozana urinski kateter urotelijske celice citotoksičnost adhezija biokompatibilnost true false true MDPI Švica Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik © 2025 by the authors. Neznano 2025-02-28 15:02:27 2025-02-28 15:02:27 2025-03-01 03:36:04 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2025 0 0 Nasl. z nasl. zaslona; Soavtorji: Helena Motaln, Miran Mozetič, Dane Lojen, Nina Recek; Opis vira z dne 28. 2. 2025; str. 1-23 iss. 5, [article no.] 2128 Vol. 26 Mar. 2025 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 2025-01-23 2025-02-26 2025-02-27 621.7+621.9 1422-0067 10.3390/ijms26052128 227664899 https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/26/5/2128 1 a64c762f-f5dc-11ef-9f1e-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=30879 RAZ_Vesel_Alenka_2025.pdf RAZ_Vesel_Alenka_2025.pdf 1 587721AB6436C4FB499203FCB3E5B1CB 52931d9b916c9359f6f5e4e8d26120cd365854f0c17d587f45def3ef28e8be20 2deae6ee-f5dd-11ef-9f1e-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=30880 Institut Jožef Stefan 0 0 0