Effect of electrolyzed water on wound healing

Electrolyzed water accelerated the healing of full-thickness cutaneous wounds in rats, but only anode chamber water (acid pH or neutralized) was effective. Hypochlorous acid (HOCl), also produced by electrolysis, was ineffective, suggesting that these types of electrolyzed water enhance wound healing by a mechanism unrelated to the well-known antibacterial action of HOCl. One possibility is that reactive oxygen species, shown to be electron spin resonance spectra present in anode chamber water, might trigger early wound healing through fibroblast migration and proliferation.     

The role of the sentinel lymph node in gastrointestinal cancer

Evaluation of the clinical significance of the sentinel node concept in GI cancer has just begun. The authors' preliminary data, using intraoperative radiation techniques and the gamma probe, suggest that it is worthwhile to continue the evaluation of this procedure to determine its role in an accurate staging and a minimally invasive approach to GI cancers.     

An alternative method of arterial reconstruction after hepatic arterial thrombosis following living-related liver transplantation

BACKGROUND: Hepatic artery thrombosis (HAT) remains an important cause of graft loss after liver transplantation. Emergency rearterialization methods are limited in cases of living-related liver transplantation in which the graft hepatic artery is thin and short. CASE: A 19-year-old woman who underwent living-related liver transplantation for biliary atresia developed HAT on the 4th postoperative day. During the emergency laparotomy the recipient hepatic artery was found to be too short to anastomose, so the recipient's right gastroepiploic artery was anastomosed to the graft hepatic artery. The patient is now alive and well 6 months after reoperation, and she has experienced no further episode of HAT. CONCLUSION: The right gastroepiploic artery can be used easily and safely for hepatic graft revascularization without causing ischemia of the stomach. An additional skin incision is not required, and the artery is long enough to anastomose to the graft artery directly. The method of hepatic graft rearterialization described here is an important option for patients who undergo living-related or split liver transplantation.     

Prognostic impact of hypoxia-inducible factors 1alpha and 2alpha in colorectal cancer patients: correlation with tumor angiogenesis and cyclooxygenase-2 expression.

PURPOSE: Angiogenesis plays an important role in a multitude of biological processes including those of tumorigenesis and cancer progression. Hypoxia is the prime driving factor for tumor angiogenesis and the family of hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) plays a pivotal role in this process. The role of HIF in tumor angiogenesis has been underscored in different carcinomas but yet to be reported for colorectal carcinomas. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: In this study, we examined HIF [HIF-1alpha (HIF1) and HIF-2alpha (HIF2)] expression in 87 curatively resected colorectal carcinoma samples, and the results were correlated with clinicopathological factors, microvessel density, cyclooxygenase 2 expression, and patient prognosis. RESULTS: HIF1 (44.8%) was more frequently expressed than HIF2 (29.9%). Most of the clinicopathological factors representing the tumor aggressiveness were significantly correlated with overexpression of HIF2 but not with HIF1 expression. HIF2 expression had direct correlation with microvessel density and cyclooxygenase 2 expression. and, in contrast, HIF1 expression had a weak but significant inverse correlation in T1 and T2 tumors only. HIF2 expression alone and the combined expression of HIF1 and HIF2 had significant impact on patient survival. In the multivariate analysis, however, only the combined expression of HIF1 and HIF2 remained independently significant. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our results suggest that HIF2 expression may play an important role in angiogenesis and that the combined expression of HIF1 and HIF2 may play an important role in tumor progression and prognosis of colorectal carcinomas. Therefore, HIF expression could be a useful target for therapeutic intervention.     

Left hemihepatectomy in living donors with a thick middle hepatic vein draining the caudal half of the right liver

Donor safety is the first consideration in living related liver transplantation. Left hemihepatectomy including the middle hepatic vein is a reasonable donor procedure for obtaining a large graft for living related liver transplantation. This procedure, however, needs to be modified in donors with hepatic venous variation. While carrying out donor hepatectomy, we encountered two cases showing a variant form of hepatic venous drainage comprising a thick middle hepatic vein draining segment 6 of the liver. This variation made it necessary to preserve the middle hepatic vein in the donor liver remnant. Failure to recognize such a variant would result in congestion in the remaining right liver of the donor. To guarantee donor safety, evaluation of the drainage area of the corresponding hepatic vein is a matter of great importance in donor hepatectomy.     

Effect of an antioxidant, ebselen, on development of chronic cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage in primates

BACKGROUND: Oxidation and/or free radical reactions after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) may be involved in the development of chronic cerebral vasospasm. The inhibition of these reactions is thought to be one of the therapeutic strategies for prevention of cerebral vasospasm. We investigated the effect of Ebselen, a synthetic seleno-organic compound, which exhibits anti-oxidation by glutathione peroxidaselike activity to inhibit free radical reactions by lipid peroxidation on the development of chronic cerebral vasospasm in a primate model. METHODS: Seventeen monkeys were used. SAH was produced by introduction of a blood clot around the right middle cerebral artery and the right side of the circle of Willis in all animals. The monkeys were randomly divided into three groups according to Ebselen dosage: 1) no dosage or non-treated group; 2) high-dose Ebselen group; and 3) low-dose Ebselen group. The drug was administered at 10 mg/Kg in the high-dose group and 5 mg/Kg in the low-dose group twice a day in each group for 7 days after SAH. The vessel diameter was evaluated on angiograms before the induction of SAH and at Day 7 following SAH.RESULTS:In the untreated group, the angiograms showed significant (p < 0.05) reductions of the mean vessel caliber of the right internal carotid (ICA) (38 +/- 10% reduction) and the middle cerebral artery (MCA) (56 +/- 9.7%) compared with the baseline value before SAH. In the high-dose Ebselen-treated group, the mean percent reduction in vessel caliber of the right ICA (16 +/- 11%) and MCA (28 +/- 9.5%) on Day 7 angiograms were significantly (p < 0.05) lower than those in the nontreated group, whereas the mean percent reduction of these vessels in the low-dose Ebselen-treated group showed no significant difference compared with the untreated group. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic cerebral vasospasm was inhibited in the animals in which a relatively large amount of Ebselen was administered for 7 days after SAH. The results suggest that the oxidation or free radical reaction by lipid peroxidation after SAH might be involved in the pathogenesis of vasospasm, and that inhibition of these reactions by drugs, such as Ebselen, may have a promising effect for prevention of vasospasm.