Biological evaluation of a novel bilirubin adsorbent and its therapeutic effect on animal models of hyperbilirubinemia

Hyperbilirubinemia caused severe hepatobiliary diseases with various causes, especially hepatic fibrosis and cirrhosis caused by end-stage hepatitis B and C. Plasma adsorption perfusion (PP) has a tremendous advantage in treating patients with hyperbilirubinemia and liver failure, wherein, a safe and effective adsorbent is the key to filter out bilirubin successfully in PP. In this work, a simple engineering strategy, a new porous polymer adsorption resin ERM-0100 based on the homopolymer predispersion system, is proposed to produce high-performance bilirubin adsorbents. Preliminary experimental results show that ERM-0100 exhibits a large surface area and uniformly porous structure. Experimental results verify that ERM-0100 has high biocompatibility and bilirubin adsorption efficiency (TBIL:35%, direct bilirubin [DBIL]:30%, IBIL:87%) that is significantly higher than most of the reported adsorbents. Animal experiments prove that ERM-0100 has high bilirubin adsorption efficiency and can improve the liver function of animals. The combination of high biocompatibility and high adsorption capacity positions the ERM-0100 as a promising candidate for bilirubin removal.