Neutrophil-Mediated Inflammatory Plasminogen Degradation, Rather Than High Plasminogen-Activator Inhibitor-1, May Underly Failures and Inefficiencies of Intrapleural Fibrinolysis.

Background: Complex pleural space infections often require treatment with multiple doses of intrapleural tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and deoxyribonuclease, with treatment failure frequently necessitating surgery. Pleural infections are rich in neutrophils, and neutrophil elastase degrades plasminogen, the target substrate of tPA, that is required to generate fibrinolysis. We hypothesized that pleural fluid from patients with pleural space infection would show high elastase activity, evidence of inflammatory plasminogen degradation, and low fibrinolytic potential in response to tPA that could be rescued with plasminogen supplementation.

Up to the chest in bowels: case of strangulated right diaphragmatic hernia with paraesophageal hernia in a non-trauma patient.

A Bochdalek hernia is a rare congenital diaphragmatic hernia often diagnosed in infancy and classically occurring on the left side. We report a case of a 78-year-old female who presented with a right-sided posterolateral diaphragmatic hernia containing multiple loops of bowel with evidence of ischemia as well as a type 4 paraesophageal hernia. The stomach was rotated on the organoaxial plane, and the duodenum was within the mediastinum.

Sustained interleukin-10 delivery reduces inflammation and improves motor function after spinal cord injury.

Background: The anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10) has been explored previously as a treatment method for spinal cord injury (SCI) due to its ability to attenuate pro-inflammatory cytokines and reduce apoptosis. Primary limitations when using systemic injections of IL-10 are that it is rapidly cleared from the injury site and that it does not cross the blood-spinal cord barrier.

Objective: Here, mineral-coated microparticles (MCMs) were used to obtain a local sustained delivery of IL-10 directly into the injury site after SCI.