ABSTRACT
Inflammatory response, induced by vessel injury and stent implantation, is considered to be an important contributing factor to in-stent neointimal hyperplasia. Stent-mediated local drug delivery has been proposed to provide high local drug concentrations at the target site to suppress neointimal hyperplasia and in-stent stenosis. A prolonged drug release without systemic side effects can be achieved. Most synthetic polymer coatings are, however, hampered by inducing an inflammatory reaction that may counteract the potential beneficial effects of pharmacologic agents.1,2 Phosphorylcholine (PC) is a major component of the cell membrane. PC-coated devices have shown thromboresistance in in vitro and in vivo studies.3,4 Furthermore, the PC coating can improve the biocompatibility of the stent surface and did not elicit an inflammatory reaction in animal models, although no reduction of neointimal hyperplasia was observed.5,6 Previous studies showed that local methylprednisolone (MP) delivery could significantly inhibit inflammation and neointimal hyperplasia, induced by polymer-coated stents.7 This study aimed to assess whether local methylprednisolone delivery from a methylprednisoloneloaded PC-coated stent has a beneficial effect on the in-stent neointimal hyperplasia induced after implantation of an oversized PC-coated stent.
