Amnion-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem Cell Paracrine Signals Potentiate Human Liver Organoid Differentiation: Translational Implications for Liver Regeneration.

The prevalence of end-stage liver diseases has reached very high levels globally. The election treatment for affected patients is orthotopic liver transplantation, which is a very complex procedure, and due to the limited number of suitable organ donors, considerable research is being done on alternative therapeutic options. For instance, the use of cell therapy, such as the transplantation of hepatocytes to promote liver repair/regeneration, has been explored, but standardized protocols to produce suitable human hepatocytes are still limited.

PIWI-interacting RNA (piRNA) signatures in human cardiac progenitor cells.

Cardiac progenitors, such as cardiospheres and cardiosphere-derived cells, represent an attractive cell source for cardiac regeneration. The PIWI-interacting RNAs, piRNAs, are an intriguing class of small non-coding RNAs, implicated in the regulation of epigenetic state, maintenance of genomic integrity and stem cell functions. Although non-coding RNAs are an exploiting field in cardiovascular research, the piRNA signatures of cardiac progenitors has not been evaluated yet.

Efficacy of oral ciprofloxacin as selective intestinal decontaminant in cirrhosis.

Background: Selective intestinal decontamination has been proposed to prevent bacterial infection in cirrhosis.

Aims: To evaluate the efficacy of ciprofloxacin as selective intestinal decontaminant.

Patients And Methods: Quantitative microbiological studies on serial faeces were carried out in 15 cirrhotic patients.