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In this study, the effects of polymer flexibility and entanglement on elastic instability were investigated by observing sodium hyaluronate (Hyaluronic Acid Sodium salt, Na-HA) solution in planar abrupt contraction-expansion microchannels. The rigidity of Na-HA in a solution is affected by ion concentration in the solution. Therefore, we prepared Na-HA water solution and Na-HA PBS solution with concentrations from 0.15 wt% to 0.45 wt%. The rheological properties were measured and analyzed to detect the Na-HA overlap and entanglement concentrations. The flow regimes of the Na-HA solutions in several planar abrupt contraction-expansion channels were characterized in terms of rheological properties, polymer flexibility and polymer entanglement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One hundred and fifty paired extensor long digital muscles were excised from Wistar rats and each muscle was prepared in Krebs-Ringer's solution (K-R solution) then gassed with a mixture of 95% O2-5% CO2. The medium for the control muscles was replaced with K-R solution containing 10(-6) M ryanodine and that for the experimental muscles was replaced with medium containing 10(-6) M ryanodine and local anesthetic (LA) (procaine, tetracaine, benzocaine, lidocaine or bupivacaine at various concentration). Isometric contracture tension was recorded throughout the experiment. The ratios of the maximal contracture tension (C-ratio) and the elapsed time (T-ratio) of the muscles treated with LA compared to those of control muscles were calculated. Tetracaine (0.125-1.0 mM) specifically reduced the C-ratio. Procaine (0.5-1.0 mM) and tetracaine (10-60 microM) increased the T-ratio. Procaine (8-16 mM), benzocaine (4-8 mM), lidocaine (0.5-4 mM) and bupivacaine (0.125-1 mM) reduced the T-ratio. The influences of LAs on ryanodine-induced contracture could be explained in terms of their effects on the Ca(2+)-induced Ca2+ release mechanism, direct Ca2+ efflux from sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), activity of Ca2+ uptake into SR and ryanodine-receptor binding. The complexity of LA effects on ryanodine-induced contracture will affect the results of ryanodine contracture tests for malignant hyperthermia when the muscle specimen is excised under local anesthesia.

To evaluate the possibility of using blood cells in the screening test for susceptibility to malignant hyperthermia (MH), we examined the effect of halothane and caffeine on cytoplasmic free calcium concentration ([Ca]i) in mononuclear cells. Blood mononuclear cells were isolated from guinea pigs or normal human volunteers, loaded with fura-2 AM and changes in the calcium signal (340nm/380nm ratio) after the application of halothane and/or caffeine were measured. Halothane above 5 mM caused a large increase in [Ca]i, but this increase was mostly abolished by the removal of extra-cellular calcium using EGTA. On the other hand, caffeine caused no observable change in the calcium signal. Pre-treatment with ryanodine did not change the calcium signal brought about by halothane or ionomycin. We conclude from this study that there is no calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) mechanism detectable by this method in blood mononuclear cells. As we consider that the main cause of the typical MH is the abnormality in the CICR mechanism, it seems difficult to screen MH susceptibility by using blood mononuclear cells. Further studies will be necessary using MH susceptible swines or patients.