Abstract
Cytokines are important cellular signaling proteins involved in inflammation, wound healing and are thought to direct the foreign body response to implanted materials. In this work, polyurethane tubes (25 mm length, 1.02 mm i.d., and 1.65 mm o.d.) were implanted into subcutaneous tissue of male Sprague-Dawley rats. The tubes served as the biomaterial and a means to collect the interstitial fluid that would be exchanged within the tube lumen and the surrounding tissue. After 3 and 7 days, the tubes were explanted and cytokines in the fluid were quantified with a multiplexed cytokine immunoassay. Six cytokines, interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, macrophage chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), were simultaneously quantified. All cytokine concentrations with the exception of IL-4 and TNF-alpha ranged between low pg/mL to mid ng/mL levels. Neither TNF-alpha nor IL-4 was detected from any sample. These results illustrate the potential of using the tube materials combined with bead-based immunoassays as a direct method for in vivo collection of multiple cytokines in low microliter sample volumes for fixed day biomaterial implant studies.