Surgical-site infections and surgery of the salivary glands.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the surgical-site infection (SSI) incidence rate targeted on salivary gland surgery over a 2-year period (from January 2007 to December 2008). Then identify any risk factors associated with SSI in all the patients operated with no antibiotic prophylaxis in accordance with French Anesthesiology Society guidelines. POPULATION AND METHODS: Ninety-three patients were operated during the standard SSI surveillance period. A case-control (one case for five controls) study was then conducted aiming to identify risk factors. RESULTS: The SSI incidence rate was 9.7%. The case-control study failed to identify any relevant risk factor with univariate analysis. CONCLUSION: As no risk factors could be identified, we suggest that surgical antibioprophylaxis could be relevant in salivary glands surgery and should be evaluated in this setting.

Naturally occurring antibodies reacting with lipoic acid: screening method, characterization and biochemical interest.

The development of a covalent enzyme-linked immunoassay (CELIA) using lipoic acid covalently bound to modified polystyrene microplates has permitted the detection, in the sera of normal BALB/c mice, of natural antibodies reacting with lipoic acid (LA). Hybridomas producing monoclonal anti-LA antibodies were obtained from splenocytes of non-immune BALB/c mice. Two of them, of IgM isotype, recognized LA but failed to react with dihydrolipoic acid (DHLA, the reduced form of LA), suggesting that the integrity of the dithiolane ring was of importance for antibody recognition. They did not give positive reactions with other disulfide linked biological molecules such as oxidized glutathione or cystine. Anti-LA antibodies, coated on polystyrene microplates, were used for the detection of free LA in a competitive assay based on peroxidase-LA conjugate.