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Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has a prevalence from 11 to 13% in the world’s population and the main treatment to replicate some of the kidney’s functions is hemodialysis (HD) [1]. One of the biggest challenges of HD is the removal of the protein bound uremic toxin’s (PBUT’s) which, in blood, bond to albumin forming very large structures which cannot cross the membranes which compose the hemodialyzer or artificial kidney.
PBUT’s such as indoxyl Sulfate (IS) and p-cresyl sulfate (pCS) are known to cause cardiovascular complications by inducing inflammatory responses or by causing endothelial or other vascular dysfunctions [1]. Hence, several studies focus on improving the removal of these toxins. A clinical study [2] has shown that certain pharmaceutical drugs, such as ibuprofen (IBU) and furosemide, bind more strongly to albumin than specific PBUT’s, and that, by injecting large amounts of ibuprofen into the blood circulation of patients prior to undergoing HD, the removal of IS and pCS was enhanced. However, long-term administration of such large quantities of these drugs is unsustainable for the patient’s health.
The main objective of this work is twofold: 1) to develop cellulose acetate (CA)/SiO2/(CH2)3NH2 monophasic hybrid membranes by coupling phase inversion and sol-gel technology [3] and functionalize them with IBU rendering (CA)/SiO2/(CH2)3NH2/IBU membranes; and 2) characterize them in terms of permeation performance. Control membranes were synthesized with methyl red dye (MR) in the location which will be occupied by IBU to have visual proof that the IBU molecules will be covalently bound to the polymer matrix. Results show that the (CA)/SiO2/(CH2)3NH2/MR monophasic hybrid membranes maintained the orange color after being stored for 40 days in deionized water. Dionized water permeation studies performed at flowrates between 30 and 130 mL/min and transmembrane pressures between 15 and 40 mmHg revealed that the hydraulic permeability of (CA)/SiO2/(CH2)3NH2/MR membranes is 49,1 mL/h.m2.mmHg and no dye was detected in the permeate nor the feed solution.
