Macroporous poly(vinyl alcohol) microspheres bearing phosphate groups as a new adsorbent for low-density lipoprotein apheresis

A new low-density lipoprotein (LDL) adsorbent with phosphate groups as the ligand was prepared in this study. Macroporous poly(vinyl acetate-co-triallyl isocyanurate) microspheres were prepared using a free-radical suspension polymerization method. A hydrolysis reaction in sodium hydroxide/methanol changed the materials into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) microspheres. Further reaction with phosphorus oxychloride in anhydrous DMF led to the LDL adsorbent PVA-phosphate microspheres. The preparation conditions such as reaction time, temperature and the amount of phosphorus oxychloride were optimized. The adsorption of plasma lipoproteins was examined by in vitro adsorption assays. The influence of adsorption time, plasma volume and ionic strength on the adsorption capacity was investigated. The circulation adsorption showed that the pathogenic lipoproteins in the plasma such as total cholesterol (TC), LDL and triglyceride (TG) could be removed markedly, in which the removal percentages were 42.9%, 45.0% and 44.74%, respectively. However, the reduction of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and other normal plasma components was very slight. For in vivo experiment, rabbits were fed with high-cholesterol food to develop a hyperlipidemia model and treated by extracorporeal blood perfusion using the PVA-phosphate columns. Eight hyperlipidemia rabbits were treated with the PVA-phosphate adsorbent, and the removal of TC, LDL and TG was 45.03 ± 6.64%, 48.97 ± 9.92% and 35.42 ± 14.17%, respectively. The sterilization and storage tests showed that the adsorbent was chemically and functionally stable. It could be easily sterilized by a common method and stored for months without loss of adsorption capacity. Therefore, this new PVA-phosphate-based LDL adsorbent may have potential for application in LDL apheresis.