Plastics and inflammation: An in vivo experimental study

A significant variation occurred in the inflammatory response to polyethylene and polyurethane when embedded subcutaneously in experimental animals. This variation apparently is related to the composition of the plastic and adsorption of proteins. The attraction of polymorphonuclear leucocytes by plastics apparently is related to the electrostatic and/or electrokinetic imbalance that occurs at or near the site of implantation. Polyurethane and polyethylene were selected for this study since preliminary observations had shown a variation in inflammatory response when they were embedded subcutaneously in the mouse. From this study it is evident that: (1) variations occurred in the inflammatory reaction in the subcutaneous tissue of mice and rabbits following the embedding of polyethylene and polyurethane; (2) polymorphonuclear leucocytes began to emigrate within hours after these two plastics were implanted, reaching their maximum number within 24 to 48 hr; (3) polymorphonuclear leucocytes usually were absent after the 6th experimental day in mice with polyurethane, but were present for 232 days in mice with polyethylene; (4) polymorphonuclear leucocytes were present in the rabbit for only a few days following subcutaneous implantation of polyethylene and polyurethane; and (5) leucocytes around the implanted polyurethane in the rabbit began to degenerate within 48 hr. The mechanism for this degeneration is not known.