Metallic materials implanted into bone defects are generally encapsulated by a fibrous tissue. Some metallic materials such as titanium and tantalum, however, have been revealed to bond to the living bone without forming the fibrous tissue, when they were subjected to NaOH solution and heat treatments. Thus treated metals form bone tissue around them even in muscle, when they take a porous form. This kind of osteoconductive and osteoinductive properties are attributed to sodium titanate or tantalate layer on their surfaces formed by the NaOH and heat treatments. These layers induce the deposition of bonelike apatite on the surface of the metals in the living body. This kind of bioactive metals are useful as bone substitutes even highly loaded portions, such as hip joint, spine and tooth root.
Dengue fever (DF) is a mosquito-borne disease still with no effective treatment or vaccine available. A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded, parallel-group trial was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of oral intake of Lactococcus lactis strain plasma (LC-Plasma) on the presentation and severity of DF-like symptoms among healthy volunteers. Study participants (320) were assigned into two groups, and consumed either placebo or LC-Plasma tablets (approximately 100 billion cells/day) for 8 weeks. The clinical symptoms of DF were self-recorded through questionnaires, and exposure to DENV was determined by serum antibody and/or DENV antigen tests. No significant differences between groups were observed for exposure to DENV, or the symptomatic ratio. Results obtained showed that participants from the LC-Plasma group reported a significant reduction in the cumulative incidence days of DF-like symptoms, which include fever (p < 0.001), muscle pain (p < 0.005), joint pain (p < 0.001), and pain behind the eyes (p < 0.001), compared to that of the placebo group. Subgroup analysis revealed a significantly (p < 0.05) reduced severity score in the LC-Plasma group when study sites were separately analyzed. Overall, our findings suggest that LC-Plasma supplementation reduces the cumulative days with DF-like symptoms, and the severity of the symptoms. Daily oral intake of LC-Plasma, hence, is shown to mitigate the DF-like symptoms.