Human neutrophil response to short-term exposure to F-75 cobalt-based alloy

The effect of biomaterials on the activation of human neutrophils was studied. Human neutrophils were incubated with F-75 cobalt-based alloy or polystyrene microspheres of a nonphagocytosable size with two times total neutrophil plane surface area. Scanning and transmission electron microscope (SEM, TEM), energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis (EDX), and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GFAAS) were used to analyze changes in cellular morphology and metal content. This report presents evidence that human PMNs display morphological changes related to foreign material challenge, including activation on F-75 bead surfaces, pinocytosis of corrosion products, formation of intracellular vacuoles, degranulation, etc. Moreover, when PMNs were present, the corrosion release rate of F-75 increased as much as three times over cell-free controls.