Publications by authors named "Darren Abbas"

Topical patch delivery of deferoxamine (DFO) has been studied as a treatment for this fibrotic transformation in irradiated tissue. Efficacy of a novel cream formulation of DFO was studied as a RIF therapeutic in unwounded and excisionally wounded irradiated skin. C57BL/6J mice underwent 30 Gy of radiation to the dorsum followed by 4 weeks of recovery.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Skin fibrosis is a serious skin problem, especially for people with diabetes who use insulin, and it can make insulin absorption harder.
  • Researchers created pig models to study skin fibrosis caused by a drug and found that using a special patch to relieve skin tension can help prevent and even fix this problem.
  • The study also showed that a certain treatment (IL4) can help reduce skin fibrosis in both pigs and humans, suggesting that this patch could be really helpful for people who rely on insulin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: As visibility of the transgender patient population and utilization of online resources increases, it is imperative that web-based gender-affirming surgery (GAS) materials for patients are readable, accessible, and of high quality.

Methods: A search trends analysis was performed to determine frequency of GAS-related searches over time. The top 100 most common results for GAS-related terms were analyzed using six readability formulas.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

While past studies have suggested that plasticity exists between dermal fibroblasts and adipocytes, it remains unknown whether fat actively contributes to fibrosis in scarring. We show that adipocytes convert to scar-forming fibroblasts in response to -mediated mechanosensing to drive wound fibrosis. We establish that mechanics alone are sufficient to drive adipocyte-to- fibroblast conversion.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: A significant gap exists in the translatability of small-animal models to human subjects. One important factor is poor laboratory models involving human tissue. Thus, the authors have created a viable postnatal human skin xenograft model using athymic mice.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Wound dehiscence, oftentimes a result of the poor tensile strength of early healing wounds, is a significant threat to the post-operative patient, potentially causing life-threatening complications. Vanadate, a protein tyrosine phosphatase inhibitor, has been shown to alter the organisation of deposited collagen in healing wounds and significantly improve the tensile strength of incisional wounds in rats. In this study, we sought to explore the effects of locally administered vanadate on tensile strength and collagen organisation in both the early and remodelling phases of excisional wound healing in a murine model.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Half of all cancer patients receive radiation therapy as a component of their treatment regimen, and the most common resulting complication is radiation-induced fibrosis (RIF) of the skin and soft tissue. This thickening of the dermis paired with decreased vascularity results in functional limitations and esthetic concerns and poses unique challenges when considering surgical exploration or reconstruction. Existing therapeutic options for RIF of the skin are limited both in scope and efficacy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Radiation-induced skin injury is a well-known risk factor for impaired wound healing. Over time, the deleterious effects of radiation on skin produce a fibrotic, hypovascular dermis poorly suited to wound healing. Despite increasing understanding of the underlying pathophysiology, therapeutic options remain elusive.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Treatments for radiation-induced fibrosis range from vitamin E (VE) and pentoxifylline (PTX) systemically to deferoxamine and fat grafting locally. Regarding fat grafting, volume retention hinders its long-term functionality and is affected by 2 factors: inflammation and necrosis secondary to hypovascularity.

Objective: The authors aimed to simultaneously improve fat graft retention and radiation-induced fibrosis by integrating VE and PTX into fat grafts locally.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hypertrophic scar formation and non-healing wounds following Achilles tendon repair arise from poor vascularity to the incisional site or from excess mechanical stress/strain to the incision during the healing process. The embrace® scar therapy dressing is a tension offloading device for incisional scars. This study explored the effects of tension offloading during Achilles scar formation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The iron chelator, deferoxamine (DFO), has been shown to potentially improve dermal radiation-induced fibrosis (RIF) in mice through increased angiogenesis and reduced oxidative damage. This preclinical study evaluated the efficacy of two DFO administration modalities, transdermal delivery and direct injection, as well as temporal treatment strategies in relation to radiation therapy to address collateral soft tissue fibrosis. The dorsum of CD-1 nude mice received 30 Gy radiation, and DFO (3 mg) was administered daily via patch or injection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Radiation therapy is effective for cancer treatment but may also result in collateral soft tissue contracture, contour deformities, and non-healing wounds. Autologous fat transfer has been described to improve tissue architecture and function of radiation-induced fibrosis and these effects may be augmented by enrichment with specific adipose-derived stromal cells (ASCs) with enhanced angiogenic potential. CD34+CD146+, CD34+CD146-, or CD34+ unfractionated human ASCs were isolated by flow cytometry and used to supplement human lipoaspirate placed beneath the scalp of irradiated mice.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Skin fibrosis places an enormous burden on patients and society, but disagreement exists over methods to quantify severity of skin scarring. A suction cutometer measures skin elasticity , but it has not been widely adopted because of inconsistency in data produced. We investigated variability of several dimensionless parameters generated by the cutometer to improve their precision and accuracy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Skin inevitably heals with the formation of a fibrotic scar. Patients affected by skin scarring suffer from long-term psychological and physical burdens. Since the discovery of fetal scarless skin-wound healing, research has hoped to identify and mimic scarless healing for adult skin.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Radiation therapy is commonplace for cancer treatment but often results in fibrosis and atrophy of surrounding soft tissue. Decellularized adipose matrices (DAMs) have been reported to improve these soft tissue defects through the promotion of adipogenesis. These matrices are decellularized by a combination of physical, chemical, and enzymatic methods to minimize their immunologic effects while promoting their regenerative effects.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Mandibular distraction osteogenesis (MDO) is frequently performed to address airway obstruction in patients with Pierre Robin sequence (PRS), though more recently the technique of orthodontic airway plating (OAP) has gained traction. We aimed to evaluate OAP compared to MDO for airway obstruction in PRS.

Design: A systematic literature search across PubMed, Embase, and Google Scholar identified all studies published in English, which involved MDO or any form of OAP as treatments for PRS.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: It is important for health care education materials to be easily understood by caretakers of children requiring craniofacial surgery. This study aimed to analyze the readability of Google search results as they pertain to "Cleft Palate Surgery" and "Palatoplasty." Additionally, the study included a search from several locations globally to identify possible geographic differences.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The primary organ systems and tissues concerning plastic and reconstructive surgery include the integument, vasculature, subcutis, and peripheral nerves, because these may individually or collectively be injured requiring reconstruction, or indeed be used in reconstruction themselves through grafts, flaps, or anastomoses. Adrenergic receptors are present throughout these anatomic components on the vasculature, adipose, platelets, immune cells, keratinocytes, melanocytes, fibroblasts, peripheral nerves, and tendons. Herein, the influence of adrenergic signaling on the physiology of anatomic components related to plastic surgery is discussed, along with clinical considerations of this systems involvement in procedures, such as free flap reconstruction, skin grafting, fat grafting, and other areas relevant to plastic and reconstructive surgery.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF