Curcumin-loaded PLGA nanoparticles coating onto metal stent by electrophoretic deposition techniques

Restenosis after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) continues to be a serious problem in clinical cardiology. To solve this problem, drug eluting stents (DES) with antiproliferative agents have been developed. Variable local drug delivery systems in the context of stenting require the development of stent manufacture, drug pharmacology and coating technology. We have worked on a system that integrates electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technology with the polymeric nanoparticles in DES for local drug delivery and a controlled release system. The surface morphology and drug loading amount of DES by EPD have been investigated under different operational conditions, such as operation time, voltage and the composition of media. We prepared poly-D,L-lactide-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles embedded with curcumin, which was done by a modified spontaneous emulsification method and used polyacrylic acid (PAA) as a surfactant because its carboxylic group contribute negative charge to the surface of CPNPs (-53.5 +/- 5.8 mV). In the process of 'trial and error' endeavors, we found that it is easy to control the drug loading amount deposited onto the stent while keeping uniform surface morphology. Accordingly, stent coating by EPD has a wide application to the modification of DES using various kinds of nanoparticles and drugs.