Contact activation and down regulation of neutrophils by cellulose wound dressings can be prevented by radical scavengers.

Neutrophil interaction with wound dressing materials was studied. A meshed non-woven cellulose was chosen as model dressing. Neutrophils isolated from human blood was added to the cellulose, and the production of reactive oxygen species was measured by luminol-amplified chemiluminescence. The respiratory burst response of the neutrophils was found to be activated upon contact with cellulose. The contact activation of the cells increased when the cellulose was oxidised with periodate, and decreased when the cellulose was reduced with cyanoborohydride, indicating that the activation of the respiratory burst response was due to carbonyl-induced stress. The contact activation of the respiratory burst response resulted in an inability of the neutrophils to respond to a secondary stimulation with zymosan. When radical scavenger enzymes were covalently bound to the cellulose, the contact activation was decreased and the ability to respond to stimuli was increased. Addition of the molecular scavenger glutathione (GSH) did not decrease the cell activation upon cellulose contact, but the cell showed an intact ability to respond to secondary stimuli after cellulose contact. In conclusion, the results show that the environmental redox potential effects neutrophils in a situations of clinical interest and that the addition of radical scavengers protects the neutrophils against material-induced damage resulting in preserved cell function.