The impact of COVID-19 pre-university education on first-grade medical students. A performance study of students of a Department of Histology.

The recent coronavirus disease (COVID-19) forced pre-university professionals to modify the educational system. This work aimed to determine the effects of pandemic situation on students' access to medical studies by comparing the performance of medical students. We evaluated the performance of students enrolled in a subject taught in the first semester of the medical curriculum in two pre-pandemic academic years (PRE), two post-pandemic years (POST), and an intermediate year (INT) using the results of a final multiple-choice exam.

Phase I-IIa clinical trial to evaluate the safety, feasibility and efficacy of the use of a palate mucosa generated by tissue engineering for the treatment of children with cleft palate: the BIOCLEFT study protocol.

Introduction: The current gold standard treatment for patients with orofacial clefts is surgical repair of the palatal defect (uranostaphylorrhaphy), which is associated with growth defects and hypoplasia of the maxillofacial structures. This trial aims to evaluate the potential of a bioengineered artificial palate mucosa, created through tissue engineering with autologous stromal and epithelial cells and nanostructured fibrin-agarose biomaterials, to enhance treatment outcomes for patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate.

Methods And Analysis: This phase I-IIa clinical trial aims to evaluate the feasibility and biosafety of a procedure involving grafting bioartificial palate mucosa onto the areas of denudated bone in patients undergoing uranostaphylorrhaphy.

Histological, histochemical, and immunohistochemical characterization of NANOULCOR nanostructured fibrin-agarose human cornea substitutes generated by tissue engineering.

Background: Human artificial corneas (HAC) generated by tissue engineering recently demonstrated clinical usefulness in the management of complex corneal diseases. However, the biological mechanisms associated to their regenerative potential need to be elucidated.

Methods: In the present work, we generated HAC using nanostructured fibrin-agarose biomaterials with cultured corneal epithelial and stromal cells, and we compared the structure and histochemical and immunohistochemical profiles of HAC with control native corneas (CTR-C) and limbus (CTR-L) to determine the level of biomimicry of the HAC with these two native organs.

A new 3D model of L929 fibroblasts microtissues uncovers the effects of Bothrops erythromelas venom and its antivenom.

In Brazil, around 80% of snakebites are caused by snakes of the genus Bothrops. A three-dimensional culture model was standardized and used to perform treatments with Bothrops erythromelas venom (BeV) and its antivenom (AV). The MRC-5 and L929 cell lines were cultured at increasing cell densities.