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.