Fig 3. Whole blood tacrolimus levels in high dose group.

Animals receiving hydrogels containing 91 mg (total dose) of TAC demonstrated a burst release of TAC (ranging between 30 and 40 ng/ml) at POD 1 that coincided with macrophage activation secondary to inflammatory events from surgical trauma and ischemia-reperfusion injury. A secondary spike of TAC release was observed at around POD 10 in all animals that possibly coincides with onset of AR events in the VCA. Lower panel demonstrates mean TAC levels coinciding with macrophage-mediated graft immune events. Standard deviations (SD) of TAC levels in triplicate whole blood samples are shown.