Corneal cut closure using temperature-controlled CO2 laser soldering system.

We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of temperature-controlled laser soldering for repair of large perforated corneas in a porcine model. Eight Yorkshire pigs aged 6 months underwent 6-mm-deep 180° crescent-shaped trephination of the central corneas. Right corneal injuries were repaired by placement of 47 % bovine albumin along the cut followed by CO2 laser soldering (power density 16 W/cm(2)) to a target temperature of 65(°).

CO₂ laser welding of corneal cuts with albumin solder using radiometric temperature control.

Purpose: To examine the efficacy and reproducibility of CO₂ laser soldering of corneal cuts using real-time infrared fiber-optic radiometric control of tissue temperature in bovine eyes (in vitro) and to evaluate the duration of this procedure in rabbit eyes (in vivo).

Methods: In vitro experiment: a 6-mm central perforating cut was induced in 40 fresh bovine eyes and sealed with a CO₂ laser, with or without albumin soldering, following placement of a single approximating nylon suture. A fiber-optic radiometric temperature control system for the CO₂ laser was used.

The effects of vascular intrauterine growth retardation on cortical astrocytes.

Objective: We sought to determine the pathogenesis of neurodevelopmental impairments in survivors of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR).

Methods: We used an experimental rabbit vascular IUGR model. We ligated 25% of uteroplacental vessels (partial ischemia) of one-half of the fetuses on day 25 at the end of the third trimester.

Gene-expression-based analysis of local and metastatic neuroblastoma variants reveals a set of genes associated with tumor progression in neuroblastoma patients.

Metastasis is the primary cause of mortality in Neuroblastoma (NB) patients, but the metastatic process in NB is poorly understood. Metastsis is a multistep process that requires the coordinated action of many genes. The identification of genes that promote or suppress tumor metastasis can advance our understanding of this process.

Generation and characterization of novel local and metastatic human neuroblastoma variants.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most commonly occurring solid tumor in children. The disease usually arises in the adrenal medulla, and it is characterized by a remarkable heterogeneity in its progression. Most NB patients with an advanced disease have massive bone marrow infiltration at diagnosis.

Low-dose doxycycline inhibits bone resorption associated with apical periodontitis.

Aim: To test the effect of low-dose doxycycline on bone resorption associated with apical periodontitis.

Methodology: Apical periodontitis was induced by occlusal pulp exposure in the mandibular first molars of 36 rats. Animals were divided into three groups of 12: group A received doxycycline in drinking water at a dose of 5.

Telmisartan in the treatment of Cohen-Rosenthal Diabetic Hypertensive rats: the benefit of PPAR-gamma agonism.

The antihypertensive and hypoglycemic effects of telmisartan, which has dual angiotensin II antagonist-PPAR-gamma agonist properties, was studied in Cohen-Rosenthal Diabetic Hypertensive rats (CRDH), a model in which hypertension, insulin resistance, and diabetes co-exist. CRDH, Cohen-diabetic rats (CDR), and SHR received telmisartan (3 mg/kg/day in drinking water) for five months. Telmisartan significantly lowered systolic and diastolic BP in SHR and CRDH, independent of body weight, and remained fairly constant in controls throughout the experiment.

CO(2) Laser Fascia to Dura Soldering for Pig Dural Defect Reconstruction.

Background And Objectives: The purposes of this study were to demonstrate that laser soldering is safe and effective for tissue bonding in dural reconstruction and to compare this new reconstruction technique to an established one.

Study Design: A temperature-controlled fiberoptic CO(2) laser system or fibrin glue were used for in vitro dural defect reconstruction in two groups of pigs. The CO(2) laser technique was also used for dural reconstruction in live pigs.

NAP enhances neurodevelopment of newborn apolipoprotein E-deficient mice subjected to hypoxia.

Perinatal hypoxic injury is associated with significant neonatal morbidity and long-term neurodevelopmental complications. NAP, a peptide derived from ADNP (activity-dependent neuroprotective protein), has previously shown neuroprotective abilities in various adult animal models. To evaluate its neuroprotective role in neonatal hypoxic-ischemic injury, we evaluated the neurodevelopmental outcome in apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-deficient (knockout) mice (a breed prone to brain damage during hypoxic insult) exposed to postnatal global hypoxic damage with and without treatment with NAP.

Dural defect repair with fascia by a CO2 laser system in a porcine model.

Hypothesis/objectives: We tested the effectiveness of a temperature-controlled CO2 laser soldering system on a porcine model for dural defect reconstruction using a fascial patch.

Methods: A dural patch was excised and then reconstructed with fascia by a CO2 laser system in vitro in 27 animals and in vivo in five animals.

Results: After dural reconstruction, the average burst pressure of the soldered patch in vitro, as measured by a custom-made pressure detector, was 258.

The pregnant spontaneously hypertensive rat as a model of asymmetric intrauterine growth retardation and neurodevelopmental delay.

Introduction: Hypertension in pregnancy and vascular placental insufficiency are considered common pathogenic factors in human intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). IUGR neonates experience higher mortality, and the surviving infants have a higher incidence of neurological and intellectual impairment.

Methods: To mimic this condition, we used pregnant spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and performed biometric measurements on Embryonic Day 20, postnatal developmental reflexes, and locomotor activity evaluations.

Repair of pig dura in vivo using temperature controlled CO(2) laser soldering.

Background And Objectives: The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that laser soldering might be successfully used for closing holes or cuts in the dura layer, which encapsulates the brain.

Study Design/materials And Methods: A temperature controlled fiberoptic CO(2) laser system and albumin solder were used for spot soldering of fascia patches to holes in the dura of farm pigs, in vitro and in vivo.

Results: The mean burst pressure of the soldered patches in the in vitro experiments was 190 +/- 88 mm Hg-significantly higher than typical maximum CSF pressure of 15 mm Hg.

Esophageal incisions repair by CO2 laser soldering.

Purpose: This study evaluated the feasibility of fiberoptic CO2 laser soldering for the repair of esophageal injuries under tight temperature feedback control in an animal model. Healing was compared to conventional suture closure.

Materials And Methods: A CO2 soldering system equipped with infrared transmitting silver halide fibers was used.

Closure of skin incisions in rabbits by laser soldering II: Tensile strength.

Background And Objectives: The basic characteristic property of wound closure is the immediate and long-term tensile strength (LTS). The objective of the current study was to compare tissue laser soldering to other available methods (i.e.

Closure of skin incisions in rabbits by laser soldering: I: Wound healing pattern.

Background And Objectives: Temperature-controlled tissue laser soldering is an innovative sutureless technique awaiting only solid experimental data to become the gold-standard surgical procedure for incision closure. The goals of the current study were: (1) to define the optimal laser soldering conditions, (2) to explore the immediate skin reparative healing events after sealing the wound, and (3) to determine the long-term trajectory of skin wound healing.

Study Design/materials And Methods: Skin incisions were generated over rabbit dorsa and were closed using different wound-closure interventions, in three groups: (a) closure, using a temperature-controlled infrared fiberoptic CO2 laser system, employing 47% bovine serum albumin as a solder; (b) wound closure by cyanoacrylate glues; and (c) wound closure by sutures.

Immunomodulatory and protective effects of moxifloxacin against Candida albicans-induced bronchopneumonia in mice injected with cyclophosphamide.

In a previous study, moxifloxacin was shown to ameliorate immunosuppression and enhance cytokine production in several tissues, including the lungs of cyclophosphamide-injected mice. We examined here the effects of moxifloxacin on Candida albicans lung infection in cyclophosphamide-injected mice. Mice were injected on day 0 with 250 mg of cyclophosphamide/kg, and on days 1 to 4 they were given moxifloxacin at 22.

Laser soldering of rat skin, using fiberoptic temperature controlled system.

Background And Objective: Laser soldering of tissues is based on the application of a biological solder on the approximated edges of a cut. Our goal was to use laser soldering for sealing cuts in skin under temperature feedback control and compare the results with ones obtained using standard sutures.

Study Design/materials And Methods: Albumin solder was applied onto the approximated edges of cuts created in rat skin.

Successful intraperitoneal nutrition in rabbits with short-bowel syndrome.

The efficacy of intraperitoneal alimentation as a means of nutritional support for various degrees of short-bowel syndrome was studied, using the rabbit model. Twenty-eight rabbits were divided into 5 groups. Group I had a sham operation; Groups II, III and IV had 50 %, 75 % and 90 % small-bowel resections (SBR), respectively; Group V had a 90 % SBR with intraperitoneal nutrition.

Carbon dioxide laser and silver halide infrared transmitting fibers for tympanoplasty: an experimental animal model.

Objective: This study evaluates the effectiveness and safety of fiberoptic carbon dioxide (CO2) laser welding for graft closure of tympanic membrane perforations in an animal model.

Study Design And Setting: Tympanic membrane perforation was surgically induced in 11 eardrums of 7 given pigs. A lumbar facial graft was placed over the wound, and albumin drops served as a biologic solder.

Generation of auto-antibodies towards Alzheimer's disease vaccination.

We developed a novel procedure to evoke anti-aggregating beta-amyloid (Abeta) antibodies, using filamentous phages displaying only four amino acids EFRH of the beta-amyloid peptide (AbetaP). This epitope was found to be the main regulatory site for fibril formation. For the first time, effective auto-antibodies have been obtained in guinea-pigs, which exhibit human identity in the AbetaP.

Comparative effects of indomethacin on cell proliferation and cell cycle progression in tumor cells grown in vitro and in vivo.

Considerable research effort is currently being directed towards understanding the mechanisms mediating the antiproliferative effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and, more recently, of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors as well. A key question is whether NSAIDs (excluding sulindac) exert their anticarcinogenic effects in vivo by a mechanism that is dependent on their capacity to inhibit COX activity. Some studies with cultured tumor cells in vitro have argued against such a linkage, showing that NSAIDs inhibit cell replication and/or augment apoptosis only at concentrations that exceed those required to inhibit COX activities 10- to 100-fold.

Experimental intrauterine growth retardation alters renal development.

Vascular placental insufficiency is considered a common pathogenic factor in human intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), resulting in small-for-gestational-age, asymmetric newborns. IUGR neonates experience higher morbidity and mortality rates, as well as a possible contribution towards late sequelae, such as hypertension, and cardiovascular disease in adulthood. To simulate vascular placental insufficiency, an experimental rabbit IUGR model was used.

Indomethacin inhibits the accumulation of tumor cells in mouse lungs and subsequent growth of lung metastases.

Background: The interaction of cancer cells with blood cells and cell wall components evokes inflammatory responses and is a critical event in the metastatic process. Indomethacin is a potent inhibitor of the cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes and has previously been shown to decrease the growth of primary tumors in vivo. Proinflammatory prostaglandins produced by the two COX enzymes may also play a role in the development of metastases.

Temperature controlled CO(2) laser welding of soft tissues: urinary bladder welding in different animal models (rats, rabbits, and cats).

Background And Objective: Laser welding of tissues is a method of closure of surgical incisions that, in principle, may have advantages over conventional closure methods. It is a noncontact technique that introduces no foreign body, the closure is continuous and watertight, and the procedure is faster and requires less skill to master. However, in practice, there have been difficulties in obtaining strong and reliable welding.