INTRODUCTION: We hypothesize that various biologic and biodegradable meshes (BM) differentially induce macrophage (MØ) activation in vitro. Inflammation and wound healing play critical roles in the integration of biologic and biodegradable meshes (BM) at the sites of hernia repair. Macrophages (MØ) are the key cells controlling inflammation and wound healing. Interleukin-1beta (IL-1b), IL-6, and IL-8 are major MØ-derived cytokines that are produced proportionally to the degree of MØ activation. Although BMs have been increasingly used in hernia repairs worldwide, immune responses to various human tissue-derived as well as biodegradable meshes has not been investigated to date.
METHODS: Twenty-four 10-mm circular mesh samples of 3 acellular human dermis biologic meshes (AlloDerm (AD), LifeCell Corp; AlloMax (AM), CR Bard/Davol Inc; FlexHD (FX), MTF/Ethicon Inc) and one biodegradable synthetic mesh (Bio-A (BA), WL Gore & Assoc) were placed in 48-well plates. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from whole blood of 3 healthy subjects. Next, 2-5 million PBMCs were added to each well and the cultures were incubated at 37oC/5%CO2 for 7 days. The resulting culture supernatants were assayed for IL-1b, Il-6, and IL-8 levels using a multiplex bead-base immunoassay system (Bio-Plex, Bio-Rad) and expressed as picograms (pg) of cytokine per ml.
RESULTS: All four mesh products induced macrophage activation in vitro. Cytokine expression varied for each BM. Both AD and BA induced significantly smaller quantities of IL-1b production (94 and 265 pg/ml, respectively) vs. both AM (2,001 pg/ml, p
Session: Podium Presentation
Program Number: S049