Fig 5. Whole blood tacrolimus levels in low dose group.

Animals receiving hydrogels containing 49 mg (total dose) of TAC demonstrated a burst release of TAC (ranging between 10 and 35 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 between POD 7–10 in all animals that possibly coincides with onset of AR events in the VCA. Mean TAC levels coinciding with macrophage- mediated graft immune events are shown. Standard deviations (SD) of TAC levels in triplicate whole blood samples are shown.