Delivery of therapeutic agents from self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on 316L stainless steel (SS) has been demonstrated as a viable method to deliver drugs for localized coronary artery stent application. SAMs are highly-ordered, nano-sized molecular coatings, adding 1-10 nm thickness to a surface. Hydroxyl terminated alkanethiol SAMs of 11-mercapto-1-undecanol (-OH SAM) were formed on 316L SS with 48 hr immersion in ethanolic solutions. Attachment of ibuprofen (a model drug) to the functional SAMs was carried out in toluene for 5 hrs at 60 degrees C using Novozume-435 as a biocatalyst. SAM formation and subsequent attachment of ibuprofen was characterized collectively using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and contact angle (CA) measurements. The quantitative in vitro release of ibuprofen into a "physiological" buffer solution was characterized using reverse phase HPLC. Drug release kinetics showed that 14.1 mu g of ibuprofen eluted over a period of 35 days with 2.7 mu g being eluted in the first day and the remaining being eluted over a period of 35 days. The drug release kinetics showed an increase in ibuprofen elution that occurred during first 14 days (2.7 mu g in 1 day to 9.5 mu g in 14 days), following which there was a decrease in the rate of elution. Thus, functional SAMs on 316L SS could be used as tethers for drug attachment and could serve as a drug delivery mechanism from stainless steel implants such as coronary artery stents.
