Effect of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) wear particles generated in water lubricant on immune response of macrophage

To develop a novel biotribological material for artificial cartilage implant with a lubricity supplement of the joint surface, we focused on two types of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogel: repeated freeze–thawing (PVA-FT) and cast-drying (PVA-CD) gels. Here we observed the morphology of wear particles generated during a reciprocating wear test and assessed macrophage immune responses by applying hydrogel wear particles. As a result, PVA-CD had a significantly lower total amount of wear than did PVA-FT. The size distributions of PVA-FT and -CD wear particles were similar. Most of the particles were nanoparticles up to approximately 50 nm in diameter. Considering the particle volume distribution, there were very few micron- and submicron-sized wear particles around 1 μm in diameter. In SEM observations of dried PVA wear particles, both distributions of wear particles of PVA-FT and -CD were similar. Micron-sized wear particles were chiefly formed by close packing of 20- to 50-nm-sized particles. Biochemical and immunological evaluations revealed no cytotoxic effects of wear particles on macrophages. Cytokine synthesis of both wear particle-stimulated groups was significantly lower than that of the lipopolysaccharide-stimulated positive control. Therefore, it is suggested that PVA wear particles do not affect the macrophage immune response.