FIBROBLAST PROLIFERATION OVER DIALYSIS MEMBRANE - AN EXPERIMENTAL-MODEL FOR TISSUE BIOCOMPATIBILITY EVALUATION

The present study reports on a biological model based on fibroblast pr oliferation applied to 3 different types of flat-plate dialysis membra ne, in order to ascertain whether the artificial materials currently u sed in hemodialysis cause in vitro cellular proliferation. The study p lan we followed involved plate membrane isolation from non-used dialyz ers and used dialyzers, observed through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) both before and after testing with human fibroblasts by means of cell culture. Fibroblast growth was assessed by phase contrast light microscopy examination and cytometric DNA content evaluation. Our inve stigations proved that the artificial materials we considered interact with fibroblast cultures. Noticeable proliferative response was obser ved both after contact with unused material and on mediation by the pr otein layer absorbed on the membrane surface at the end of dialysis se ssions. In this last case fibroblast proliferative activity appeared h igher than that observed with unused membranes, showing that the solub le molecules entrapped in the protein layer appeared able to exert a b iological activity even in in vitro tests.