Blood tubing and cytokine production: effect of sterilization

Blood tubings commonly represent an integral component of hemodialysis circuits. Different factors may influence their biocompatibility, such as the type of material, the sterilization mode and the geometry. In vivo the final biocompatibility may be further complicated by the individual host response, the flow parameters, and the impact of mechanical trauma on blood's cellular components (i.e. erythrocytes). In this in vitro study we evaluated some commercially available blood tubings sterilized by different methods as to their interaction with normal leukocyte population and tested the response of these cells in terms of cytokines (IL-1beta, IL-1Ra, TNF-alpha). As a positive control, leukocytes were incubated with 0.5 ng/mL of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or with Cuprophan of comparable surface. The results showed that cytokine production was markedly reduced, particularly in the case of gamma-ray-sterilized tubings. Of interest, it was not always related to the adherence. However in some cases, particularly of gamma-ray sterilization, adherence was none, despite the cytokine production.