FIRST USE OF CULTURED HUMAN UROTHELIAL CELLS FOR BIOCOMPATIBILITY ASSESSMENT - APPLICATION TO URINARY CATHETERS

For several years, studies performed to estimate in vitro biocompatibi lity of urinary catheters have been carried out using permanent cell l ines. But for a rational design of the testing procedure, the cell cul ture model should relate to the material application. This work presen ts the results of a probe study designed to obtain an in vitro model o f normal human urothelial cells (HUC) and to test the relevance of thi s system in cytocompatibility experiments of urinary catheters current ly used. A comparison is made with continuous cell lines, the use of w hich is recommended by normalization bodies. We exposed monolayers of HUC (well characterized for their proliferation, qualitative evaluatio n, and quantitative measurement of cytokeratins) and two continuous hu man cell lines to liquid extracts (either pure or diluted in the cultu re medium) of nine available catheters, including positive (latex) and negative controls, for a 24 h incubation. Then colorimetric assays (N eutral Red and MTT) were performed. The extracts of two polyurethanes provoked a significant toxic effect on HUC only, suggesting difference s in sensitivity between the models used. This effect could be due to the presence of a great amount of barium (used as a radioopacifier) in extracts, as highlighted by results of absorption emission spectrosco py. A culture model of HUC may be of relevance for the screening of ma terials intended for urological practice. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.