On the Reactivity of (S)-Indoline-2-Carboxylic Acid.

(S)-Indoline-2-carboxylic acid (H-(2S)-Ind-OH) possesses the ability to influence the conformation of peptide bonds towards the cis amide isomer in polar solvents. However, its potential utilization as a conformational switch within long peptide sequences poses challenges due to its low reactivity and strong inclination to form diketopiperazines. The present study explores its reactivity under various conditions and proposes synthetic strategies to overcome these limitations.

A LC-QTOF Method for the Determination of PEGDE Residues in Dermal Fillers.

Hyaluronic acid is one of the most important ingredients in dermal fillers, where it is often cross-linked to gain more favorable rheological properties and to improve the implant duration. Poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEGDE) has been recently introduced as a crosslinker because of its very similar chemical reactivity with the most-used crosslinker BDDE, while giving special rheological properties. Monitoring the amount of the crosslinker residues in the final device is always necessary, but in the case of PEGDE, no methods are available in literature.

Rheological Investigation as Tool to Assess Physicochemical Stability of a Hyaluronic Acid Dermal Filler Cross-Linked with Polyethylene Glycol Diglycidyl Ether and Containing Calcium Hydroxyapatite, Glycine and L-Proline.

(1) Background: Dermal fillers are commonly used in aesthetic practice and their rheological characterization is of much interest today, as well as the stability study of the finished formula against external stimuli of a different nature (biological and physicochemical). Rheological tools have been exploited to characterize the physiochemical behaviour of a hyaluronic acid (HA) based dermal filler subjected to different thermal conditions over time. The collected results provide an index of its rheological stability.

Comparative Physicochemical Analysis among 1,4-Butanediol Diglycidyl Ether Cross-Linked Hyaluronic Acid Dermal Fillers.

(1) Background: Injectable hyaluronic acid (HA) dermal fillers are used in several chirurgical practices and in aesthetic medicine. HA filler stability can be enhanced through different cross-linking technologies; one of the most frequently cross-linker used is 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether (BDDE), also present in the HA-BDDE dermal filler family of the company Matex Lab S.p.

Physico-Chemical Characterization and In Vitro Biological Evaluation of a Bionic Hydrogel Based on Hyaluronic Acid and l-Lysine for Medical Applications.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) is an endogenous polysaccharide, whose hydrogels have been used in medical applications for decades. Here, we present a technology platform for stabilizing HA with a biocrosslinker, the amino acid L-lysine, to manufacture bionic hydrogels for regenerative medicine. We synthetized bionic hydrogels with tailored composition with respect to HA concentration and degree of stabilization depending on the envisaged medical use.

Image-Guided Surgical Simulation in Minimally Invasive Liver Procedures: Development of a Liver Tumor Porcine Model Using a Multimodality Imaging Assessment.

Image-guided liver surgery and interventions are growing as part of the current trend to translate liver procedures into minimally invasive approaches. Hands-on surgical training in such techniques is required. Consequently, a meaningful and realistic liver tumor model using multi-imaging modalities, such as ultrasound (US), computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), cone beam-CT (CBCT), is mandatory.

Toward Physicochemical and Rheological Characterization of Different Injectable Hyaluronic Acid Dermal Fillers Cross-Linked with Polyethylene Glycol Diglycidyl Ether.

(1) Background: Injectable hyaluronic acid (HA) dermal fillers are used to restore volume, hydration and skin tone in aesthetic medicine. HA fillers differ from each other due to their cross-linking technologies, with the aim to increase mechanical and biological activities. One of the most recent and promising cross-linkers is polyethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (PEGDE), used by the company Matex Lab S.

Diagnostic utility of Sudoscan for detecting bortezomib-induced painful neuropathy: a study on 18 patients with multiple myeloma.

Introduction: In the past few years, treatment of multiple myeloma has undergone a deep change for the employment of novel treatment comprising proteasome inhibitors. Bortezomib is a first-line drug in therapy of multiple myeloma. The onset of peripheral neuropathy is a dose-limiting collateral effect of the drug.

Application of a novel material in the inguinal region using a totally percutaneous approach in an animal model: a new potential technique?

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of a new percutaneous image-guided surgery technique to simulate a hernia repair using hydrogel.

Materials And Methods: A comparative prospective study was conducted in animals, with survival. Five pigs without any hernias were used.

Design of Nanocomposite Injectable Hydrogels for Minimally Invasive Surgery.

Biocompatible hydrogels are materials that hold great promise in medicine and biology since the porous structure, the ability to entrap a large amount of water, and the tunability of their mechanical and tissue adhesive properties make them suitable for several applications, including wound healing, drug and cell delivery, cancer treatment, bioelectronics, and tissue regeneration. Among the possible developed systems, injectable hydrogels, owing to their properties, are optimal candidates for minimally invasive procedures. To be injectable, a hydrogel must be liquid before and during the injection, but it must quickly jellify after injection to form a soft, self-standing, solid material.

Injectable Hybrid Hydrogels, with Cell-Responsive Degradation, for Tumor Resection.

Biocompatible soft materials have recently found applications in interventional endoscopy to facilitate resection of mucosal tumors. When neoplastic lesions are in organs that can be easily damaged by perforation, such as stomach, intestine, and esophagus, the formation of a submucosal fluid cushion (SFC) is needed to lift the tumor from the underlying muscle during the resection of neoplasias. Such procedure is called endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD).

Standardisation of minimal residual disease in multiple myeloma.

The assessment of the effectiveness of chemotherapy in oncology cannot disregard the concept of minimal residual disease (MRD). In fact, the efforts of numerous scientific groups all over the world are currently focusing on this issue, with the sole purpose of defining sensitive, effective assessment criteria that are, above all, able to give acceptable, easily repeatable results worldwide. Regarding this issue, especially with the advent of new drugs, multiple myeloma is one of the haematologic malignancies for which a consensus has not yet been reached.

Anticancer Activity of Curcumin and Its Analogues: Preclinical and Clinical Studies.

Curcumin has been shown to have a wide variety of therapeutic effects, ranging from anti-inflammatory, chemopreventive, anti-proliferative, and anti-metastatic. This review provides an overview of the recent research conducted to overcome the problems with the bioavailability of curcumin, and of the preclinical and clinical studies that have reported success in combinatorial strategies coupling curcumin with other treatments. Research on the signaling pathways that curcumin treatment targets shows that it potently acts on major intracellular components involved in key processes such as genomic modulations, cell invasion and cell death pathways.

Possible Role of Interleukin-31/33 Axis in Imatinib Mesylate-Associated Skin Toxicity.

Imatinib mesylate is a small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKi) designed to target c-ABL and BCR-ABL, approved for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors. Adverse cutaneous reactions induced by imatinib are frequent, generally moderate, and dose-dependent. The aim of this work was to investigate the possible contribution of interleukin (IL)-33 and IL-31, cytokines involved in disorders associated with itching, in the pathogenesis of pruritus in a patient undergoing imatinib mesylate treatment.

The cancer stem cell hypothesis: a guide to potential molecular targets.

Common cancer theories hold that tumor is an uncontrolled somatic cell proliferation caused by the progressive addition of random mutations in critical genes that control cell growth. Nevertheless, various contradictions related to the mutation theory have been reported previously. These events may be elucidated by the persistence of residual tumor cells, called Cancer Stem Cells (CSCs) responsible for tumorigenesis, tumor maintenance, tumor spread, and tumor relapse.

Effect of therapeutic plasma exchange on plasma levels of oxidative biomarkers in a patient with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Background: The role of oxidative stress in the initiation and progression of endothelial damage in thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) syndrome has been the subject of much speculation in the recent past.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to measure the concentration of plasma advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs), advanced glycation end products (AGEs), and carbonyl groups (CG) as markers of oxidative stress in plasma of a patient with TTP during the course of the disease until recovery and to evaluate the effect of plasmapheresis (PE) on these biomarkers.

Materials And Methods: The study consisted of plasma analysis of the patient, and 23 healthy subjects served as controls.

MiRNome expression is deregulated in the peripheral lymphoid compartment of multiple myeloma.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs involved in the regulation of gene expression. Selected groups of miRNAs are differentially expressed in various types of cancers. Alterations in miRNAs gene expression have been shown in cells from the B-cell malignancy, multiple myeloma (MM).

New orally active proteasome inhibitors in multiple myeloma.

Bortezomib is the first proteasome inhibitor approved for the therapy of multiple myeloma (MM). Although Bortezomib has renovated the treatment of MM, a considerable proportion of subjects fail to respond to Bortezomib treatment and almost all patients relapse from this drug either alone or when used in combination therapies. However, the good clinical outcome of Bortezomib treatment in MM patients gave impulsion for the development of second generation proteasome inhibitors with the ambition of improving efficacy of proteasome inhibition, enhancing antitumor activity, and decreasing toxicity, as well as providing flexible dosing schedules and patient convenience.

Association of osteonecrosis of the jaws and POEMS syndrome in a patient assuming rituximab.

POEMS syndrome, is a rare condition characterized by polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal proteinaemia, and skin lesions. We report a rare case of a patient affected by Waldenström macroglobulinemia, who developed POEMS syndrome and who presented at the time of diagnosis with oral manifestations of the lymphoma and an osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) after rituximab treatment. Although the etiology of ONJ is not known, it is likely that several factors are at play, including endothelial cell damage, decreased angiogenesis, and microvascular compromise.

Monoclonal antibodies: potential new therapeutic treatment against multiple myeloma.

Despite recent treatments, such as bortezomib, thalidomide, and lenalidomide, therapy of multiple myeloma (MM) is limited, and MM remains an incurable disease associated with high mortality. The outcome of patients treated with cytotoxic therapy has not been satisfactory. Therefore, new therapies are needed for relapsed MM.

Evaluation of interleukin-23 plasma levels in patients with polycythemia vera and essential thrombocythemia.

Essential thrombocythemia (ET), polycythemia vera (PV) and myelofibrosis share the same acquired genetic lesion, JAK2V617F. It is believed that cytokines participate in the activation of JAK2V617F. In this study, we analyzed the plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-23, IL-10 and IL-22 in patients with PV and ET.