Effect of prolonged gelling time on the intrinsic properties of barium alginate microcapsules and its biocompatibility

Vijayaganapathy Vaithilingam, Gabriella Kollarikova, Meirigeng Qi, Igor Lacik, Jose Oberholzer, Gilles J. Guillemin, Bernard E. Tuch*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

48 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Pericapsular fibrotic overgrowth (PFO) may be attributed to an immune response against microcapsules themselves or to antigen shedding through microcapsule pores from encapsulated islet tissue. Modification of microcapsules aimed at reducing pore size should prevent PFO and improve graft survival. This study investigated the effect of increased gelling time (20 vs. 2min) in barium chloride on intrinsic properties of alginate microcapsules and tested their biocompatibility in-vivo. Prolonged gelling time affected neither permeability nor size of the microcapsules. However, prolonged gelling time for 20min produced brittle microcapsules compared to 2min during compression test. Encapsulation of human islets in both types of microcapsules affected neither islet viability nor function. The presence of PFO when transplanted into a large animal model such as baboon and its absence in small animal models such as rodents suggest that the host immune response towards alginate microcapsules is species rather than alginate specific.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)499-507
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Microencapsulation
Volume28
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2011
Externally publishedYes

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