In vitro evaluation of the safe margin, antithrombotic and antiproliferative actions for the treatment of restenosis: Nitric oxide donor and polymers.

Drug-eluting stents (DES) were developed to combat the problem of in-stent restenosis, and evaluating the biological activity from DES systems is critical for its safety and efficacy. To test the cytotoxicity of nitric oxide (NO) donor-containing polymers for their potential use in DES applications, S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) or in combination with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) in an aqueous polymeric solution (PVA/PVP/GSNO) was investigated using Balb/c 3T3 and Rabbit arterial smooth muscle (RASM) cells. The sensitivity of 3T3 cells to the cytotoxicity effects induced by GSNO was higher than that of RASM cells, while RASM cells were more susceptible to alterations in membrane permeability.