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Alginate-poly-L-lysine (PLL) microencapsulation of cells is a promising approach to prevent rejection in the absence of immunosuppression. Clinical application, however, is hampered by insufficient insight in factors influencing biocompatibility of the capsules. By now, it has been accepted that not only the chemical composition of the materials applied but also other factors contribute to bioincompatibility. The zeta-potential serves as a measure for the electrical charge of the surface and has been shown to be a predictive value for the interfacial reactions between the biomaterial and the surrounding tissue in other applications. In the present study, we have assessed the streaming potential of alginate-PLL capsules composed of either low-, intermediate-, or high-guluronic (G) alginate to calculate the zeta-potential. The zeta-potentials of the capsules were compared to the biological response against the capsules at 4 weeks after implantation in the rat. We show that high-G and low-G alginates provoke a more severe response in the rat than capsules prepared of intermediate-G alginate. This correlates with a higher zeta-potential of the high-G and low-G alginates and by a change in zeta-potential at lower pH. These lower pH-levels are common directly after implantation as the consequence of a host-response associated with mandatory surgery. Our results suggest that we should not only consider the capsule properties under physiological circumstances to explain bioincompatibility but also the capsule features during common pathophysiological situations.

In order to assess the cardiovascular autonomic nervous functions in patients with fetal type Minamata disease (FMD), we investigated blood pressure (BP), and conducted time and frequency domain analysis of heart rate variability (HRV). Subjects were 9 patients in Meisuien recognized as FMD, and 13 healthy age matched control subjects. HRV and BP were assessed after subjects rested in a supine position for 10 minutes. Electrocardiographic (ECG) data were collected for 3 minutes during natural breathing. Time domain analysis (the average of R-R intervals [Mean RR], standard deviation of R-R intervals [SD RR], coefficient of variation [CV]), and frequency domain analysis by fast Fourier transformation (FFT) (power of low frequency [LF] and high frequency [HF] component, expressed in normalized units[nu]) were then conducted. In the time domain analysis, the mean RR of the FMD group was significantly lower than that of the control group. Neither SD RR nor CV showed significant differences between the two groups, but both tended to be lower in the FMD group. In the frequency domain analysis, the HF component of the FMD group was significantly lower than that of the control group. Pulse pressure (PP) was significantly lower in the FMD subjects. These findings suggest that parasympathetic nervous dysfunction might exist in FMD patients, who were exposed to high doses of methylmercury (MeHg) during the prenatal period. Decrease of PP might be due to degenerative changes of blood vessels driven by exposure to high doses of MeHg.

Purpose We examined the remodelling of the femoral head-neck junction in patients with slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) and the frequency of residual cam deformities. Methods We reviewed 69 hips in 56 patients with stable SCFE who had undergone in situ pinning. Mean age at slip was 11.7 years and the follow-up period 63.4 months. Cam deformity was evaluated using the anterior offset alpha (α) angle and head-neck offset ratio (HNOR). Results The average α angle and HNOR significantly improved from 76.2°to 51.3°and 0.086 to 0.135, respectively; 25 hips (36.2 %) still had an α angle greater than 50°, and 32 hips (46.4 %) had an HNOR of under 0.145. A multivariate analysis selected age at onset and slip angle as risk factors for cam deformity, with cutoff values 11.1 years and 21.0°, respectively. Conclusions Although most hips had remodelling of the head-neck junction, 29.4 % had residual cam deformities that may be susceptible to femoroacetabular impingement.

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Two surveys, one in winter the other in summer time, examined the skin problems of the entire manual workers (N=148) from 11 small-to-medium sized fiber-glass reinforced plastics (FRP) factories located in Kyushu, Japan. The workers were exposed to unsaturated polyester resin, including styrene and auxiliary agents such as cobalt naphthenate, hardeners such as methyl ethyl ketone peroxides, glass fiber and dust including shortened glass fiber and plastic particles. Eightyseven workers (58.8%) reported having skin problems (mainly itching or dermatitis) since they started to work in FRP manufacturing and 25 workers had consulted a physician because of their skin problems; one worker was forced to take sick leave because of his severe dermatitis. History of allergic diseases and shorter occupational period (duration of employment) in a FRP factory were associated with greater probability of having a history of work-related skin symptoms. Workers in factories where dust-generating and lamination sites were located in different buildings were significantly less likely to have a history of skin problems than those in factories where the two sites were located in the same building. Of the 67 workers examined in both seasons closed to double the prevalence of dermatitis was found in summer (23.3%) than winter (13.4%).

A 42-year-old female shiitake grower was investigated to clarify the etiology of skin lesions which developed during the planting of shiitake hyphae into bed logs. She complained of repeated eczematous skin lesions during the planting season, from March to July, for 10 years. She handled 7,000 pieces of small conic blocks made of beech, with shiitake hyphae attached to their surface, per day, and 300,000 pieces altogether per season. She was positive on patch testing with extracts of shiitake hyphae. In contrast, female shiitake growers with skin lesions associated with work other than planting, and without skin lesions, were negative on patch testing to the hyphae. Moderate allergenicity was observed to extracts of shiitake hyphae in a guinea pig maximization test. These findings indicated the etiology of skin lesions in shiitake growers to be allergic contact dermatitis induced by shiitake hyphae.

How should we treat acute/unstable slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) without the development of avascular necrosis (AVN)? To answer this question, we investigated the risk factors of AVN development after SCFE. Seventy-six hips of 64 patients were classified using two kinds of classification systems, Loder's classification based on instability and the conventional classification based on the duration of symptom, because both classifications are related to AVN development. Of 21 unstable SCFEs, seven hips developed AVN. Of 35 hips defined as acute or acute on chronic, nine hips developed AVN. Two stable SCFEs of Loder's classification developed AVN, one was acute and the other was acute on chronic. No hips of chronic SCFE developed AVN. The factor that had influenced AVN development was only closed reduction, whether purposefully or inadvertently, in an acute or unstable SCFE. On the basis of the findings of this study, one should not embark on any modality of closed reduction for an unstable or acute form of SCFE, as there is a high risk for occurrence of AVN. For the same reason, a traction table should not be used for SCFE fixation, so as to avoid an inadvertent reduction or force that can lead to AVN.