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Alginate fibers are made from sodium alginate, which is a natural polymer extracted from brown seaweeds. Over the last two decades, alginate fibers have become well established in the wound management industry where their ion-exchange and gel-forming abilities are particularly useful for the treatment of exuding wounds. In order to deliver functional performances for advanced wound management products, many improvements have been made in recent years to enhance the absorption and gel-forming capabilities and the anti-microbial properties of alginate fibers. In addition, attempts have been made to use alginate fibers as a carrier to deliver zinc, silver and other active ingredients that are beneficial to wound healing. This paper reviews the development in the production of various fibers from alginate, and summarizes the production processes for calcium alginate, calcium/sodium alginate, sodium alginate, zinc alginate, silver alginate and other types of alginate fibers containing novel functional ingredients.

Chitin and chitosan are natural polymers extracted from various plants and animals. In recent years, these two polymers have attracted much interest because of their biodegradability, biocompatibility, wound‐healing acceleration and many other unique properties. As a natural renewable resource, they offer many potential applications in a number of diversified fields. Chitin and chitosan fibers have been found useful as a biomaterial for potential applications such as sutures and wound dressings. This article presents a brief introduction to the properties of chitin and chitosan, and reviews the various attempts for the production of fibers from the two polymers. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Complete T-cell activation requires two distinct signals, one delivered via the T-cell receptor, and the second "co-stimulatory" signal through CD28/B7 ligation. Previous studies showed that the blockade of CD28/B7 ligation alters differentiation of Th1/Th2 lymphocyte subsets in vitro and in vivo. The present study was designed to determine the effect of a CD28/B7 antagonist (CTLA4Ig) on Th1/Th2 development in Schistosoma mansoni-sensitized and airway-challenged mice. Treatment of mice with CTLA4Ig beginning 1 wk after sensitization abolished airway responsiveness to intravenous methacholine determined 96 h following antigen challenge. We also found a significant reduction in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) eosinophilia, and reduced peribronchial eosinophilic infiltration and mucoid-cell hyperplasia. Furthermore, CTLA4Ig treatment significantly decreased interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-5 content in BAL fluid in vivo, and the production of IL-5 by lung lymphocytes stimulated with soluble egg antigen (SEA) in vitro. In contrast, the content of interferon-gamma in BAL fluid and supernatant from SEA-stimulated lung lymphocytes from CTLA4Ig-treated mice was increased significantly compared with untreated animals. Thus, CTLA4Ig inhibits eosinophilic airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness in S. mansoni-sensitized and airway-challenged mice, most likely due to attenuated secretion of Th2-type cytokines and increased secretion of Th1-type cytokines.