Special Water Prevents Infections in Pancreas Transplant Surgery
- Authors
- Masaaki Miyamoto, Kazutomo Inoue, Yuanjun Gu, Masanori Hoki, Seiji Haji, Harumasa Ohyanagi
- Journal
- Cell Transplantation
- Year
- 1999
- DOI
- 10.1177/096368979900800410
- Study Type
- Pig
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Diabetes
- Body System
- Endocrine
TL;DR
Washing the pancreas with a special acidic water can prevent bacterial contamination without harming the pancreas, but it can slightly damage the cells if they're washed directly after being isolated.
Key Finding
Acidic oxidative potential water effectively prevented bacterial contamination on harvested pancreatic tissue, but direct application to isolated islet cells reduced their viability and function.
Summary
Researchers tested a special acidic water (created through electrolysis) to prevent bacterial contamination during the preparation of pancreatic islets (insulin-producing cells) harvested from pigs for potential transplantation. The water was highly effective at killing bacteria on the pancreas surface, but when applied directly to the isolated islet cells themselves, it slightly reduced their viability and function.
Practical Takeaway
This study was conducted in pigs and focused on preventing bacterial contamination during a specialized medical procedure (islet transplantation), not on hydrogen water as a health supplement. The findings do not apply to drinking hydrogen water or other consumer health applications. The study suggests that the timing and method of applying antimicrobial solutions matters—preventing contamination without damaging the cells being preserved is a key challenge in transplant medicine.
Abstract
At a number of points in the current procedures of islet isolation and islet culture after the harvesting of donor pancreata, microorganisms could potentially infect the islet preparation. Furthermore, the use of islets from multiple donors can compound the risks of contamination of individual recipients. Acidic oxidative potential water (also termed electrolyzed strong acid solution, function water, or acqua oxidation water), which was developed in Japan, is a strong acid formed on the anode in the electrolysis of water containing a small amount of sodium chloride. It has these physical properties: pH, from 2.3 to 2.7; oxidative-reduction potential, from 1,000 to 1,100 mV; dissolved chlorine, from 30 to 40 ppm; and dissolved oxygen, from 10 to 30 ppm. Because of these properties, acidic oxidative potential water has strong bactericidal effects on all bacteria including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), viruses including HIV, HBV, HCV, CMV, and fungi as a result of the action of the active oxygen and active chlorine that it contains. We conducted this study to evaluate the effect of acidic oxidative potential water irrigation on bacterial contamination on the harvesting of porcine pancreata from slaughterhouses for islet xenotransplantation by counting the number of pancreatic surface bacteria using the Dip-slide method, and on the results of islet culture; and to evaluate the direct effect on isolated islets when it is used to prevent bacterial contamination by the static incubation test and by morphological examination. Direct irrigation of the pancreas by acidic oxidative potential water was found to be very effective in preventing bacterial contamination, but direct irrigation of isolated islets slightly decreased their viability and function.