Cold Storage Exacerbates Renal and Mitochondrial Dysfunction Following Transplantation.

Long-term renal function is compromised in patients receiving deceased donor kidneys which require cold storage exposure prior to transplantation. It is well established that extended cold storage induces renal damage and several labs, including our own, have demonstrated renal mitochondrial damage after cold storage alone. However, to our knowledge, few studies have assessed renal and mitochondrial function after transplantation of rat kidneys exposed to short-term (4 hr) cold storage compared to transplant without cold storage (autotransplantation). Our data reveal that cold storage plus transplantation exacerbated renal and mitochondrial dysfunction when compared to autotransplantation alone.

[Effects of polysaccharide from Thuja occidentale L. on stromal precursor cells of hematopoietic microenvironment in mice]. / Deistvie polisakharida iz Thuja occidentale L na stromal'nye kletki-predshestvenniki krovetvornogo mikrookruzheniia myshi.

The effect of high molecular polysaccharide subfraction from Thuja occidentale L. (TPS) on stromal precursor cells of hematopoietic microenvironment under the "steady-state" conditions and after sublethal irradiation was investigated. The stromal precursor cells of different stages of differentiation were detected by the implantation of mouse bone marrow under the renal capsule of syngeneic intact recipients and chimeras. It was shown that TPS did not occur the toxic influence on the stromal precursor cells and provided the defense effect on them under the strong (6 Gy) radiation damages.

Colonization of human wounds by Escherichia vulneris and Escherichia hermannii.

In this report we present clinical descriptions of 12 Hawaiian patients from whom Escherichia vulneris or E. hermannii strains were isolated. All but two patients had soft-tissue infections with multiple bacteria, particularly Staphylococcus aureus. The other two had purulent conjunctivitis associated with S. aureus and infected malignant peritonitis with multiple organisms, respectively. In none of the cases were the Escherichia spp. found in abundant quantities or considered pathogenic. In preliminary animal pathogenicity studies, 12 strains each of E. vulneris and E. hermannii failed to cause serious symptoms in 4-week-old mice when 10(7) cells were injected intraperitoneally. When 10(6) cells were used, none of these bacterial strains injected into mouse soft tissue was capable of producing persistent wound infections. Susceptibility studies of 40 strains of these bacteria to 20 different antimicrobial agents showed that they were susceptible to third-generation cephalosporins as well as to most other cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, trimethoprim, and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim; these strains were only marginally susceptible or resistant to penicillin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and nitrofurantoin.