title: In vivo biocompatibility evaluation of Cibacron blue-agarose.
abstract: This study investigated the biocompatibility of Cibacron blue-agarose as a biomaterial for microencapsulation. Cibacron blue-agarose is known to have an affinity for albumin under certain pH conditions and in the proper steric environment. Thus it was postulated that the material's high affinity for host albumin might reduce a secondary immune response and reduce the fibrotic overgrowth that often accompanies transplanted foreign materials. In vivo tests were performed using the Lewis rat model. Both Cibacron blue-agarose and plain agarose disks were prepared, with some disks from each group being pre-exposed to sera from Lewis rats. The disks were transplanted into the peritoneal cavities of Lewis rats. After 115 days the disks were excised. Fibrotic overgrowth was analyzed using light microscopy, and a blind study was used to measure the average growth thickness on each disk. The results demonstrated that all disks developed some fibrotic encapsulation and that the presence of Cibacron blue was not significant in reducing fibrotic overgrowth (p = 0.62). Agarose disks pre-exposed to sera had significantly less average overgrowth than any other group (p = 0. 06).
authors.affiliation: The Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yousef
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: V G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Rodgers
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D051381:Rats; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew; D012685:Sepharose; D014227:Triazines
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D014227:Triazines; C012842:Cibacron Blue F 3GA; D012685:Sepharose