Phagocytosis of carbon particles by macrophages in vitro.

Particles of known size ranges of carbon fibre-reinforced carbon were presented to in vitro cultures of murine macrophages. Particles of up to 20 microns diameter were phagocytosed. Larger particles were not phagocytosed but became surrounded by aggregations of macrophages, some of which migrated on to the particle surfaces. Mean rates of phagocytosis up to 2.5 particles per hour were observed. Cells presented with a large excess of particles became rounded, detached from the substrate and some underwent lysis. The implications of these findings for the fate of particulates released from implanted medical devices is discussed. It is argued that a mechanism exists where particles in the size range 8-20 microns, released from medical devices, are small enough to be phagocytosed by macrophages and transported to the lymphatics and subsequently to the vascular circulation but large enough to lodge in capillary beds of tissues remote from the implant site.