Evaluation of the xenobiotic reaction against hyaluronate-based bioresorbable membrane in the abdominal cavity.

Postoperative abdominal adhesions are one of the most common post-laparotomy complications observed. Several types of adhesion preventative agents are available and their effectiveness and adverse impact have been clinically evaluated in previous studies. However, few basic studies have tested whether those agents do not trigger any unwanted xenobiotic reaction, which makes some surgeons hesitant to use them. To clarify this point, we investigated whether the adhesion preventative agent Seprafilm® (KAKEN PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD., Tokyo, Japan), one of the most widely used hyaluronate-based bioresorbable membrane (HBBM), can trigger an inflammatory response in normal abdominal tissue and delay the healing process. The rat underwent laparotomy and a HBBM was placed directly below the incision. Tissue samples at the incision and away from the incision (normal tissue) were harvested and inflammatory response and fibrosis were evaluated using quantitative PCR and histological scoring. We found that HBBM did not induce inflammatory cytokine expression at mRNA level in the peritoneal wall tissue or modify the fibrosis process in the abdominal cavity. These findings confirm the safety of using HBBM for the prevention of adhesion development post-laparotomy.

[Growth inhibition of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in seafood by tabletop dry ice cooler].

Tabletop dry ice coolers (three types; dome model, cap model and tripod model), which are used in kitchens and hotel banquet halls to refrigerate fresh seafood, were investigated to determine whether growth of Vibrio parahaemolyticus was inhibited by their use. On TSA plates containing 1.8% NaCl and fresh seafood (fillets of squid, pink shrimp and yellowtail), V. parahaemolyticus (O3:K6, TDH+) inoculated at 4 to 5 log CFU/sample and left at ambient temperature (25 degrees C) grew by 1.0 to 2.8 orders in 4 hours. In contrast, with tabletop coolers no significant increase in viable count occurred in 3 to 4 hours, confirming that tabletop coolers inhibited the growth of V. parahaemolyticus. The temperature in each tabletop cooler was kept below 10 degrees C for 80 to 135 min, though the CO2 gas concentration in them remained high for only a short time (0 to 75 min). It was presumed that the refrigeration function mainly contributed to growth inhibition. Our results indicate that tabletop dry ice coolers are helpful for prevention of food-borne disease due to V. parahaemolyticus in food-service locations, such as kitchens and banquet halls.