Respiratory burst response of peritoneal leukocytes adhering to titanium and stainless steel

Titanium sheets, made hydrophilic by oxidative cleaning or hydrophobic by t reatment with butanol, and stainless steel sheets with different patterns o f pores (phi = 0.8 mm) were implanted into the peritoneal cavity of mice. T he implants were removed after 2 h, and the surface-adhering leukocytes; we re stained with propidium. iodide and fluorescein diacetate to quantitate c ell adhesion and to indicate the presence of leaks in the cell membrane. Th e ability of the surface-adhering leukocytes to mount a respiratory burst r esponse after stimulation with PMA or zymosan was measured by chemiluminisc ence. The results show that stainless steel without pores induces membrane leakage in 80% of the surface-adhering leukocytes compared with 65% of cell s adhering to porous steel. Hydrophilic titanium induces membrane leakage i n 48% of the surf ace-adhering leukocytes compared with 19% of cells adheri ng to hydrophobic titanium. The respiratory burst response of the surface-a dhering leukocytes stimulated with PMA was attenuated on stainless steel an d hydrophilic titanium compared with hydrophobic titanium. Thus, butanol tr eatment of titanium and pores in stainless steel increase the biocompatibil ity of the materials. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.