Albumin-coated Amberlite XAD-7 resin for hemoperfusion in acute liver failure. Part I: adsorption studies.

Platelets adhere to most foreign surfaces. As a result, polymers and albumin have been suggested as possible coatings to improve the blood compatibility of such surfaces. Amberlite XAD-7 has a high affinity for human serum albumin (HSA) and several protein-bound toxic metabolites. In the present study it is shown that HSA can be tightly bound to Amberlite XAD-7 without the use of chemical coupling agents. Optimal binding was achieved at pH 5.0 and the adsorption conforms to Langmuir's isotherm. Theoretical analysis of data and absence of a residual surface coating visible with scanning electron microscopy suggest a monolayer of albumin. The amount of HSA eluted from the resin under severe flow conditions was negligible (approximately 1%). Furthermore, in stirred batch studies with human plasma, the HSA coating did not decrease the adsorptive capacity of XAD-7 for bile acids and bilirubin.