Eradication of burst release of copper ions from copper-bearing IUDs by a phytocompound-based electropolymeric coating

M. BERTUOLA; M. BERTUOLA; C.A. GRILLO; C.A. GRILLO; M FERNANDEZ LORENZO; M FERNANDEZ LORENZO

MATERIALS LETTERS

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2019 vol. 252 p. 317 - 320

0167-577X

Copper bearing IUDs main disadvantage is the initial high release (burst release) of copper ions that causesan increased inflammatory response in surrounding tissues and several side effects. In this work, we studied the performance of Cu coated with an electropolymer obtained by potentiostatic polarization of aphytocompound, carvacrol, at 400 mV (SCE) (polyCarvCu-400 mV) in simulated intrauterine fluid (SUF)and its biocompatibility in a fibroblastic cell line. Corrosion studies with polyCarvCu-400 mV revealeda 107 ± 5 mV anodic shift of corrosion potential and an important decrease in corrosion current.PolyCarvCu-400 mV immersed in SUF for 3 and 15 days also evidenced a drastic reduction in the releaseof copper ions with respect to bare copper. Notwithstanding, concentrations of released copper (4.6?9.2 lg/day during the first 3 days and 2.0?4.00 lg/day during 15 days) are enough to guarantee the contraception action. PolyCarvCu-400 mV also showed a higher biocompatibility than bare Cu when fibroblast cell viability was assayed and, additionally, an enhanced cell growth on the metal surface thanuntreated copper. Results indicate that polyCarvCu-400 mV coating provides excellent improvementsrelated to untreated Cu-bearing IUDs, avoiding the burst release side effects and enhancing the biocompatibility of the device.