Response of macrophages to poly(L-lactide) particulates which have undergone various degrees of artificial degradation.

This investigation looked at the effects of artificially degraded poly(L-lactide) particles on macrophages in vitro. The effects of very-low-molecular-weight unprocessed poly(L-lactide) and poly(glycolide) particles were also examined. There were no obvious trends in the data, suggesting that as the artificially degraded particles became more degraded, they became more or less toxic. Comparisons of the effects of low-molecular-weight poly(L-lactide) and poly(glycolide) particles did not reveal any differences between the effects of poly(L-lactide) particles and poly(glycolide) particles on cells in vitro. It is possible that the reason for this is that the cell line used here is less sensitive to particles than cultures of primary cells. Given this information and the fact that poly(glycolide) particles have been associated with osteolytic and inflammatory problems, this would suggest that further research into poly(L-lactide) implant degradation would be worthwhile.