Hyaluronic Acid-Grafted Bioprosthetic Heart Valves Achieved by Copolymerization Exhibited Improved Anticalcification and Antithrombogenicity

Bioprosthetic heart valves (BHVs) are widely used in clinic, but they still have problems of calcification, thrombogenicity, and cytotoxicity. The reported techniques based on glutaraldehyde (Glut) crosslinking have difficulty in solving these problems simultaneously. In this study, we grafted Glut-crosslinked porcine pericardium (GA) with hyaluronic acid (HA) by radical copolymerization to improve its anticalcification and antithrombotic properties. Partially methacrylated poly-ε-lysine was used to introduce methacryl groups into GA. Then, HA-grafted porcine pericardium (GA-HA) was obtained by radical copolymerization. Rat’s subcutaneous implantation results showed that the calcium content of GA-HA was significantly lower than that of GA (37 ± 29 μg/mg vs 188 ± 7 μg/mg), and the platelets adhering to the surface of GA-HA decreased by approximately 41% compared with GA. In conclusion, grafting porcine pericardium with HA by copolymerization might be feasible to improve the anticalcification and antithrombotic properties of BHVs.