Preparation and Characterization of Curcumin-Based Coating Material on Co-Cr Alloy

Commonly used as a stent-based material, cobalt-chromium (Co-Cr) alloy requires drug coating on its surface for prevention of restenosis risk; this is known as the drug-eluting stent (DES). In this research, curcumin was investigated as a drug coating material with biodegradable polymer PLLA (poly-L lactic acid) as a drug carrier and mildly fabricated on the surface of Co-Cr alloy by using an ultrasonic spraying method. Three kinds of concentrations were equipped — low (~62.5 μg), moderate (~125 μg), and high (~250 μg) concentration. This study also investigated the coating with curcumin only that may be used as the exploration to develop the drug coating stent without using polymer. The characterization of the coating specimens was analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), analytical scanning electron microscope (SEM) together with energy dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy (EDS). Results showed that curcumin and PLLA were relatively homogeneous blended in order to be formulated as the coating material. Further, the curcumin/PLLA and the curcumin only were also affecting the topography of the surfaces on the specimens coated. Moreover, the in vitro study result showed that the drug release of all curcumin concentrations indicated a mildly sustained release profile without any apparent burst release within the period of the measurements. © (2024) All Rights Reserved.