The role of various biomedical polymers concentration on the adhesion rate and viability of monocyte and monocyte derived macrophages.

The relationship between various polymers used in surgical implantation and cellular response at that particular site has not been fully elucidated. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of various biomedical polymers on the adherence and viability of monocyte and monocyte derived macrophages. The monocytes were isolated from human peripheral blood, biotin labeled and seeded at a density of 5 x 10(5) cells/well according to standard laboratory procedures. Cells were considered macrophages after remaining in culture for 24 hours. Cells were then plated in each microtiter well pretreated with various concentrations of (0.01, 0.1 and 1%) poly-1-valine (P-Val), Poly-L-Alanine (P-Ala), poly-glycine (P-Gly), poly-L-tryptophan (P-Trp), Poly-L-Asparagine (P-Asn) and buffered control. At the end of 3 hours, 2 and 7 days the viability and cell number of monocyte or monocyte derived macrophages were determined using an established assay (biotin-labeled-macrophages). Cell number was determined in control wells with known amounts of cell number, a standard curve was generated by plotting absorbance units versus cell number. The data from this experiment suggest that: (I) cell number and viability of monocytes and macrophages can be measured concurrently, for the first time, by the use of Alamar Blue methodology, and (II) monocytes and macrophages are capable of surviving on all concentrations (0.01, 0.1 and 1%) of polymers tested over a 7 day period. Information obtained from this study provided new insights on the interrelationship between commercially available polymers, dose effect, incubation time and the possible cell response during chronic inflammation at the site of implantation.