orabase and Sepsis

Sodium hyaluronate-carboxymethylcellulose (HA/CMC) formulations are gels that effectively reduce postoperative adhesions in both animals and humans, when placed in the peritoneal or pelvic cavities concomitant with surgical manipulation. However, it has been suggested that the use of these products may increase the risk of peritoneal infection after contamination with intestinal contents during surgery. Using the rat intra-abdominal sepsis model, we found that administration of HA/CMC gels before bacterial challenge did not increase mortality but did significantly protect rats against lethal infection. This effect was dose and time dependent. Protection was conferred not by the HA/CMC gels themselves but by 1-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-3-ethylurea (EDU), a small molecule released from the gel complex under physiologic conditions. Our results suggest that the protective effect exhibited by EDU is related to down-regulation of T cell-dependent responses and suppression of the proinflammatory-cytokine cascade associated with mortality during the early phase of disease.

Topics: Abdominal Abscess; Adjuvants, Immunologic; Animals; Carboxymethylcellulose Sodium; Cytokines; Disease Models, Animal; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Escherichia coli Infections; Gels; Hyaluronic Acid; Male; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Sepsis; Spleen; T-Lymphocytes; Time Factors; Urea

Six components used in vaginal tampons were tested for their effects on a strain of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated from a patient with disseminated infection. Tampon components containing carboxymethyl cellulose or its derivative prolonged the in-vitro survival of gonococci and, when injected with mucin into mice, significantly (P less than 0.0001) increased the dissemination of gonococci from the peritoneal cavity. In contrast, a component extracted from rayon tampons reduced in-vitro survival and appeared to suppress gonococcal dissemination in mice. Since tampons are used by a large number of women at a time when the risk of developing complications from venereal infections are increased, their effects on potential urogenital pathogens warrant further study.

Topics: Animals; Carboxymethylcellulose Sodium; Cellulose; Female; Gonorrhea; Humans; Menstrual Hygiene Products; Mice; Neisseria gonorrhoeae; Sepsis; Textiles