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How Minimally Invasive is Microdialysis Sampling? A Cautionary Note for Cytokine Collection in Human Skin and other Clinical Studies

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Abstract

It is common to refer to microdialysis as a minimally invasive procedure, likening it to insertion of an artificial capillary. While a comparison of this type allows the process to be easily visualized by those outside the field, it tends to provide a false impression of the localized perturbation of the tissue space that is caused by catheter insertion. With the increased acceptance of microdialysis sampling as a viable in vivo sampling method, many researchers have begun to use the technique to explore inflammatory and immune-mediated diseases in the skin and other organs. Unfortunately, many of the molecules of interest, particularly chemokines and cytokines, are known to be generated during the inflammatory response to wounding and the subsequent cellular events leading to wound repair. With more than 11,000 reports citing the use of microdialysis sampling, only a few researchers have sought to assess the tissue damage that is incurred by probe insertion. For this reason, caution is warranted when collecting these molecules and inferring a role for them in clinical disease states. This commentary seeks to remind the research community of the confounding effects that signaling molecules related to the wounding response will have on clinical studies. Proper controls must be incorporated into all studies in order to assess whether or not particular molecules are truly related to the disease state under investigation or have been generated as part of the tissue response to the wound incurred by microdialysis catheter implantation.

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Notes

  1. The Stenken group experience with microdialysis sampling probes is that polycarbonate/polyether (PC) membranes were able to function up to 7 days and PES probes to 10 days. However, PC membranes are no longer available and have been replaced with a polyarylethersulfone membrane. We have not tested the long-term implantation viability of these membranes in animals.

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Acknowledgments

JAS acknowledges NIH EB 001441 for funding. CAG acknowledges the Geraldine Kerkut Studentship for funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 72701, USA

    Julie A. Stenken

  2. Department of Dermatology and Allergy, Allergy Centre Charité, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany

    Martin K. Church

  3. Infection, Inflammation and Repair, School of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, Mailpoint 825, Level F, South Block, Tremona Road, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK

    Martin K. Church

  4. Institute of Developmental Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton General Hospital, MP 887, Southampton, SO16 6YD, UK

    Carolyn A. Gill & Geraldine F. Clough

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  1. Julie A. Stenken
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  2. Martin K. Church
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  4. Geraldine F. Clough
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Correspondence to Julie A. Stenken.

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Stenken, J.A., Church, M.K., Gill, C.A. et al. How Minimally Invasive is Microdialysis Sampling? A Cautionary Note for Cytokine Collection in Human Skin and other Clinical Studies. AAPS J 12, 73–78 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1208/s12248-009-9163-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1208/s12248-009-9163-7

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