Retention of cytokine-inducing substances inside high-flux dialyzers.

Reprocessing of dialyzers is often performed with nonsterile solutions possibly contaminated with bacterial-derived cytokine-inducing substances. We investigated the retention of cytokine-inducing substances inside the dialyzer during reprocessing in a closed loop in vitro hemodialysis system using a polyamide high flux membrane. After the first in vitro circulation of human whole blood, rinse of the blood compartment (BC) and reverse ultrafiltration (RUF) was performed with either cytokine-inducing substance-free saline or saline contaminated with filtrates from Pseudomonas cultures (6 ng/ml LAL-reactive material); subsequently, dialyzers were stored in 2% formaldehyde. Dialyzers were rinsed with approximately 15 liters pyrogen-free saline before the second circulation using blood from the same donor; the effluates were free of cytokine-inducing substances and formaldehyde. Before and after the blood circulations, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were separated and total production of IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta was determined after overnight incubation. In noncirculated PBMC as well as in PBMC separated after whole blood circulation with pyrogen-free processed dialyzers, production of IL-1 beta was not detectable. After contaminated rinse of the BC, production of IL-1 beta could be observed (1,600 +/- 1,100 pg/ml, mean +/- SEM). When pyrogen-free RUF was performed after contaminated BC rinse, IL-1 beta production averaged 163 +/- 92 pg/ml when using reused dialyzers, but 1,820 +/- 880 pg/ml when using new dialyzers. After reuse with pyrogen-free BC-rinse and contaminated RUF no IL-1 beta synthesis was observed; however, when pyrogen-free BC-rinse and contaminated RUF was applied to new dialyzers, IL-1 beta synthesis averaged 1,620 +/- 1,200 pg/ml. We conclude that cytokine-inducing substances are retained inside the dialyzer, probably by adsorption to the membrane as well as to the protein layer covering the membrane and are still biologically active after sterilisation. Cytokine-inducing substances adsorbed to the protein layer can be partially removed by RUF. Finally, the protein layer on the membrane appears to reduce the convective transfer of cytokine-inducing substances from the dialysate into the blood compartment.