title: The rat epididymal fat pad as an implantation site for the study of microcapsule biocompatibility: validation of the method.
abstract: The study of microcapsule biocompatibility is hindered by their uneven distribution and low recovery when implanted into the peritoneum. We evaluated the use of the rat epididymal fat pad as a microcapsule implantation site for biocompatibility studies. The recovery rate of microcapsules containing 85Sr-labeled microspheres was 99.6 +/- 0.75%. Microcapsules made from the same batch of nonpurified alginate, were injected into both fat pads of male Lewis rats (n = 18) and retrieved 14 days later. A semiquantitative fibrosis score scaled from 0 to 3.0 showed that the pericapsular reaction was uniform throughout a fat pad, and that the results of the two fat pads were equivalent because the null hypothesis of inequivalence was rejected (P < .001). Thus, this method can be used to compare the biocompatibility of microcapsule of differing compositions.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche Guy Bernier, Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Pariseau
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Leblond
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Harel
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lepage
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hallé
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000637:transplantation; D000464:Alginates; D000818:Animals; D002214:Capsules; D004343:Drug Implants; D004822:Epididymis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000637:transplantation; D005355:Fibrosis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods*; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D013326:Strontium Radioisotopes
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D002214:Capsules; D004343:Drug Implants; D013326:Strontium Radioisotopes