Nanofibrillar cellulose-alginate hydrogel coated surgical sutures as cell-carrier systems

Hydrogel nanomaterials, especially those that are of non-human and non-animal origins, have great potential in biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences due to their versatility and inherent soft-tissue like properties. With the ability to simulate native tissue function, hydrogels are potentially well suited for cellular therapy applications. In this study, we have fabricated nano-fibrillar cellulose-alginate (NFCA) suture coatings as biomedical devices to help overcome some of the limitations related to cellular therapy, such as low cell survivability and distribution out of target tissue. The addition of sodium alginate 8% (w/v) increased the NFCA hydrogel viscosity, storage and loss moduli by slightly under one order of magnitude, thus contributing significantly to coating strength. Confocal microscopy showed nearly 100% cell viability throughout the 2-week incubation period within and on the surface of the coating. Additionally, typical morphologies in the dual cell culture of spheroid forming HepG2 and monolayer type SK-HEP-1 were observed. Twelve out of 14 NFCA coated surgical sutures remained intact during the suturing operation with various mice and rat tissue; however, partial peeling off was observed in 2 of the coated sutures. We conclude that NFCA suture coatings could perform as cell-carrier systems for cellular based therapy and post-surgical treatment.Peer reviewe

Bifidobacterium animalis

Gastrointestinal (GI) adverse effects such as erosion and increased permeability are common during the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Our objective was to assess whether Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis 420 protects against NSAID-induced GI side effects in a rat model. A total of 120 male Wistar rats were allocated into groups designated as control, NSAID, and probiotic. The NSAID and probiotic groups were challenged with indomethacin (10 mg/kg−1; single dose). The probiotic group was also supplemented daily with 1010 CFU of B. lactis 420 for seven days prior to the indomethacin administration. The control group rats received no indomethacin or probiotic. The permeability of the rat intestine was analysed using carbohydrate probes and the visual damage of the rat stomach mucosa was graded according to severity. B. lactis 420 significantly reduced the indomethacin-induced increase in stomach permeability. However, the protective effect on the visual mucosal damage was not significant. The incidence of severe NSAID-induced lesions was, nevertheless, reduced from 50% to 33% with the probiotic treatment. To conclude, the B. lactis 420 supplementation protected the rats from an NSAID-induced increase in stomach permeability and may reduce the formation of more serious GI mucosal damage and/or enhance the recovery rate of the stomach mucosa

Effects of the viability of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG on rotavirus infection in neonatal rats

Peer reviewe

Viinitietämyksellä ruokapöytien herraksi : Viininmaisteluillallisen suunnittelua harrastelijatason asiakkaille

Opinnäytetyössä selvitettiin aihetta viininmaisteluillallinen sekä tapahtuman suunnittelua toteutettavaksi pohjoisen Suomen toimintaympäristössä. Tavoit-teena oli laatia kyseiselle tapahtumalle menu, sisältäen ruoka- ja juomatuotteet, sekä käyden läpi huomioon otettavat seikat, kuten minkälaiselle viininmaisteluil-lalliselle olisi kysyntää, ja kuinka viinitrendit vaikuttavat tapahtuman suunnitte-luun. Suunnitelma tehtiin yleiskattavaksi, mutta pääasiallisena kohteena on pohjoinen Suomi. Vaikka suunnitelma tehtiin kuvitteelliselle ravintolalle, voidaan pohjaa käyttää suunniteltaessa toimintaa omaan yritykseen. Työn loppuosassa on val-miiksi luonnosteltu menupohja sekä valmiiksi lasketut annoskortit ja kannatta-vuuslaskelmat. Opinnäytetyössä koottiin kattava paketti niistä asioista, jotka tulisi ottaa huomi-oon suunnitteluvaiheessa. Työssä tehtiin myös analyysia suomalaisten viininos-totottumuksista viimeisten kolmen vuoden aikana, ja tulevaisuuden kansainväli-sistä viinitrendeistä. Nämä auttavat ymmärtämään paremmin sitä miksi kysei-nen viininmaisteluillallinen on niin ajankohtainen. SWOT-analyysia ja prosessikaavioita apuna käyttäen tarkasteltiin tiiviimmin mahdollisia uhkia ja heikkoja kohtia. Näiden työkalujen avulla voidaan miettiä toiminnan kehittämistä, ja sitä mitkä voivat olla viininmaisteluillallisen kompas-tuskivet. Opinnäytetyön koonnin pohjalta voidaan sanoa suomalaisten olevan kiinnostu-neita viineistä vuodesta toiseen entistä enemmän. Heidän kiinnostuksensa koh-distuu erityisesti ruoan ja viinin yhdistämiseen. Tässä opinnäytetyön aihe on osuva.In the thesis, main subject is wine tasting and designing an event that could take place in the Northern Finland. The aim was to plan a menu, including food and wine, for this wine tasting event. But also, to clarify subjects that need to be considered in the process of executing this kind of event. As an example, of what kind of wine tasting event would have demand in Finland, and also how do the wine trends effect the predesigning before all. The plan is made to function all around in Finland, but the main target area would be the Northern part’s. Even though the planning was made to a fictitious restaurant, the base was designed to be used by any kind of enterprise who would be interested of implementing this kind of event. At the end of the thesis is predesigned menu with recommended wine and food objects, and also calcu-lated card where all the possible costs stand. With all the information and ideas brought from the literature, interview and also following the international wine trends have given the tools to combine these into a thesis. Which can be helpful when interested on this subject in any way. And by analyzing Finnish wine consumption trend over the past 3 years, and uniting that to future wine trends, have helped to understand more of how wine tasting is such a hot subject to talk about at the moment. By using SWOT-analysis and also process charts to look more carefully into the possible treat’s and the weak spots of implementing a wine tasting event. Which may also be used to improve the operational functions and to see the stepping stones beforehand. Throughout all the knowledge that has been gathered can be said that this wine tasting subject is current, but also interested by many Finnish people despite the age. Specifically, combining food and wine is the number one interest year after year. So, in this manner the thesis is current

Viscosity measurements of NFC and NFCA samples.

<p>Addition of alginate increases the viscosity of the hydrogel composition. A minor increase can be observed with the incremental addition of alginate content within the mixture.</p

Confocal imaging of HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells stained with CTred and CTgreen, both markers for live cells.

<p>Type-I collagen treated NFCA threads with HepG2 cells mixed within the material (red staining/HepG2 cells within the thread). A-B) HepG2 cells seeded on the surface of the NFCA threads and incubated for 72h (green). C-D) SK-HEP-1 cells seeded on the surface of the NFCA threads and incubated for 48h (green). HepG2 cells within the threads grew individually or in very small clusters; however, surface growth showed typical cluster and epithelial morphology of HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 respectively.</p

NFCA coated suture performance testing on small-animal tissues.

<p>Suturing was completed with instrument type knots. 12 out of 14 successful sutures were performed on mouse and rat skin (A and B) in addition to rat intestine (C). Some peeling off was observed in 2 sutures during the performance testing (D). Failed sutures were clearly visible and easily noticed as long tube-like segments (D).</p

Confocal imaging and preparation of NFCA-HepG2 coated surgical sutures.

<p>Live staining of CTred was performed after 72 h incubation. A) Sutures coated with NFCA-HepG2 and sewn three times through a pig liver segment indicating live HepG2 cells within the coating matrix. B, D) Preparation method of NFCA coated sutures. C) NFCA-HepG2 coating could be peeled off from the surgical suture as intact segments without damaging its tube-like structure showing live HepG2 cells remaining within the coating.</p

Live/Dead confocal imaging of NFCA-HepG2 threads stained with FDA (alive/green) and PI (dead/red).

<p>A) HepG2 cells were mixed within the NFCA before crosslinking; after 1-week of incubation and C) after 2 weeks of incubation. B) HepG2 cells were seeded on top of type-I collagen treated NFCA threads; after 1-week of incubation and D) after 2 weeks of incubation. An increase in the number of cells after the 2-week incubation period was not observed when the cells were mixed within the NFCA material. However, HepG2 clusters were growing on the surface cultures. Only a few dead cells were observed during the study period.</p