Biocompatibility can be defined as the capacity of a material to integrate tissue and induce a favorable therapeutic response, free of local and systemic damages1,2,3. Biocompatibility evaluation is crucial for the development of any material intended for medical use. Therefore, this protocol provides a systematic and comprehensive approach for every researcher aiming to develop new biomaterials or studying new applications for existing biomaterials.
In vitro cytotoxicity tests are widely used as the first phase for biocompatibility evaluation, using primary cell cultures or cell lines. The results constitute a first indicator of potential clinical application. Besides being vital for the biomaterial development, this testing is mandatory to comply with current regulations for market introduction, from EUA and EU regulators (FDA and CE certification)4,5,6,7,8. Moreover, standardized testing in biomedical research provides a significant advantage in terms of reproducibility and comparison of results from different studies on similar biomaterials or devices9.
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) guidelines are widely used by multiple independent commercial, regulatory, and academic laboratories for testing materials in an accurate and reproducible manner. The ISO 10993-5 refers to the in vitro cytotoxicity assessment and the ISO 10993-12 reports to sampling preparation10,11. For biomaterial testing three categories are provided, to be selected according to the material type, contacting tissues, and the treatment goal: extracts, direct contact, and indirect contact8,11,12,13. Extracts are obtained by enriching a cell culture medium with the biomaterial. For the direct contact tests, the biomaterial is placed directly on the cell cultures, and, in indirect contact, incubation with the cells is performed separated by a barrier, such as an agarose gel11. Appropriate controls are mandatory, and a minimum of three independent experiments should be performed5,8,10,11,14.
It is critical to simulate or exaggerate clinical conditions to determine the cytotoxic potential. In the case of extracts testing, the material's surface area; the medium volume; the medium and the material pH; the material solubility, osmolarity and diffusion ratio; and the extraction conditions such as agitation, temperature, and time influence media enrichmen5.
The methodology allows the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of cytotoxicity of several pharmaceutical formulations, both solid and liquid. Several assays can be performed, such as neutral red uptake test, colony formation test, MTT assay, and XTT assay5,10,14.
Most cytotoxicity assessment studies published use simpler assays, namely MTT and XTT, which provide limited information. Evaluating biocompatibility should not only involve the assessment of cytotoxicity but also bioactivity of a given test material2, as this protocol endorses. Additional evaluation criteria should be used when justified and documented. Thus, this protocol aims to provide a comprehensive guide, detailing a set of methods for the biomaterial cytotoxicity evaluation. Besides, the evaluation of different cellular processes, namely the type of cell death, cell morphology, cell function in the synthesis of specific proteins, and specific tissue production, are described.