Novel approach for biomaterial assessment: utilizing the Ex Ovo quail cam assay for biocompatibility pre-screening.

In recent years, the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) has emerged as a crucial component of biocompatibility testing for biomaterials designed for regenerative strategies and tissue engineering applications. This study explores angiogenic potential of an innovative acellular and porous biopolymer scaffold, based on polyhydroxybutyrate and chitosan (PHB/CHIT), using the ex ovo quail CAM assay as an alternative to the conventional chick CAM test. On embryonic day 6 (ED6), we placed the tested biomaterials on the CAM alone or soaked them with various substances, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A), saline, or the endogenous angiogenesis inhibitor Angiostatin.

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI)-Related Coronary Artery Perforation Permanently Sealed by a Severed Inflated Balloon After Shaft Fracture: A Case Report.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is an essential modality for the treatment of coronary artery disease. However, rare complications, such as coronary artery perforation and equipment failure, pose significant challenges. This case report describes a unique case of PCI-related coronary artery perforation and a cascade of subsequent complications managed successfully by an unconventional approach.

Unravelling heterogeneous effects of cancer‑associated fibroblasts on poor prognosis markers in breast cancer EM‑G3 cell line: ‑targeted treatment (anti‑IL-6, anti‑VEGF-A, anti‑MFGE8) based on transcriptomic profiling.

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women worldwide. Although dramatically increased survival rates of early diagnosed cases have been observed, late diagnosed patients and metastatic cancer may still be considered fatal. The present study's main focus was on cancer‑associated fibroblasts (CAFs) which is an active component of the tumor microenvironment (TME) regulating the breast cancer ecosystem.

Heterogeneous response to TGF-β1/3 isoforms in fibroblasts of different origins: implications for wound healing and tumorigenesis.

Identification of therapeutic targets for treating fibrotic diseases and cancer remains challenging. Our study aimed to investigate the effects of TGF-β1 and TGF-β3 on myofibroblast differentiation and extracellular matrix deposition in different types of fibroblasts, including normal/dermal, cancer-associated, and scar-derived fibroblasts. When comparing the phenotype and signaling pathways activation we observed extreme heterogeneity of studied markers across different fibroblast populations, even within those isolated from the same tissue.

High On-Treatment Platelet Reactivity in Patients Undergoing Complex Percutaneous Coronary Interventions.

Patient response to P2Y12 inhibitor therapy is heterogeneous, and those with high on-treatment platelet reactivity (HTPR) are at an increased risk of thrombotic complications. The aim of our study was to determine whether selecting a high-risk patient group of individuals after complex percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) would show the clinical benefit of HTPR testing for preventing thrombotic complications. Blood samples of patients after complex PCI were acquired 1 day and 1 month after the intervention.

Adenosine vs. regadenoson for stress induction in dynamic CT perfusion scan of the myocardium: A single‑center retrospective comparison.

Cardiac computed tomography (CT) angiography offers several approaches to determine the hemodynamic severity of coronary artery obstruction. Dynamic myocardial perfusion is based on serial CT imaging of contrast flow into the myocardium and calculation of absolute myocardial perfusion rates. East-Slovak Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases has been the first center in Slovakia intensively using this modern technique to increase the quality level of non-invasive diagnosis of symptomatic patients with a low to moderate pre-test probability of ischemic heart disease.

[Myocardial free wall rupture as a complication of STEMI].

Myocardial free wall rupture is a rare, but serious complication of acute myocardial infarction with high mortality. We present a case of a 64-year-old patient with this devastating complication of an anterior ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) with a prolonged time delay. Cardiac surgery was not performed due to prohibitive surgical risk and predicted poor prognosis.

L. Aqueous Extract Improves Skin Wound Healing: An Study in Fibroblasts and Keratinocytes and Study in Rats.

Background/aim: We have previously shown that the water extract of Agrimonia eupatoria L. (AE) is a valuable source of polyphenols with excellent antioxidant properties and has clinical potential for the prevention and/or adjuvant therapy of cardiovascular complications associated with diabetes. Inspired by our previously published data, in the present study we examined whether AE improves skin wound healing in a series of in vitro and in vivo experiments.

Aesculus hippocastanum L. extract differently modulates normal human dermal fibroblasts and cancer-associated fibroblasts from basal/squamous cell carcinoma.

Fibroblasts are actively involved in the formation of granulation tissue and/or tumor stroma. These cells possess the potential to differentiate into myofibroblasts acquiring a highly contractile phenotype characterized by the expression of α-smooth muscle actin (SMA). Considering TGF-β1 as the main inducer of myofibroblast differentiation and horse chestnut extract (HCE) as an effective modulator of the wound healing, we have new evidence to demonstrate canonical TGF-β1/SMAD and non-canonical/non-SMAD signaling in normal fibroblasts, isolated from healthy human skin (human dermal fibroblasts - HDFs), and their malignant counterparts (CAFs) isolated from basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) using western blot and immunofluorescence.

Novel lipophosphonoxin-loaded polycaprolactone electrospun nanofiber dressing reduces Staphylococcus aureus induced wound infection in mice.

Active wound dressings are attracting extensive attention in soft tissue repair and regeneration, including bacteria-infected skin wound healing. As the wide use of antibiotics leads to drug resistance we present here a new concept of wound dressings based on the polycaprolactone nanofiber scaffold (NANO) releasing second generation lipophosphonoxin (LPPO) as antibacterial agent. Firstly, we demonstrated in vitro that LPPO released from NANO exerted antibacterial activity while not impairing proliferation/differentiation of fibroblasts and keratinocytes.

Desmoplastic Crosstalk in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma Is Reflected by Different Responses of Panc-1, MIAPaCa-2, PaTu-8902, and CAPAN-2 Cell Lines to Cancer-associated/Normal Fibroblasts.

Background/aim: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) still represents one of the most aggressive cancers. Understanding of the epithelial-mesenchymal crosstalk as a crucial part of the tumor microenvironment should pave the way for therapies to improve patient survival rates. Well-established cell lines present a useful and reproducible model to study PDAC biology.

Molecular Changes Underlying Hypertrophic Scarring Following Burns Involve Specific Deregulations at All Wound Healing Stages (Inflammation, Proliferation and Maturation).

Excessive connective tissue accumulation, a hallmark of hypertrophic scaring, results in progressive deterioration of the structure and function of organs. It can also be seen during tumor growth and other fibroproliferative disorders. These processes result from a wide spectrum of cross-talks between mesenchymal, epithelial and inflammatory/immune cells that have not yet been fully understood.

Human galectin‑3: Molecular switch of gene expression in dermal fibroblasts in vitro and of skin collagen organization in open wounds and tensile strength in incisions .

Understanding the molecular and cellular processes in skin wound healing can pave the way for devising innovative concepts by turning the identified natural effectors into therapeutic tools. Based on the concept of broad‑scale engagement of members of the family of galactoside‑binding lectins (galectins) in pathophysiological processes, such as cancer or tissue repair/regeneration, the present study investigated the potential of galectins‑1 (Gal‑1) and ‑3 (Gal‑3) in wound healing. Human dermal fibroblasts, which are key cells involved in skin wound healing, responded to galectin exposure (Gal‑1 at 300 or Gal‑3 at 600 ng/ml) with selective changes in gene expression among a panel of 84 wound‑healing‑related genes, as well as remodeling of the extracellular matrix.

L. Extract Does Not Induce Fibroblast to Myofibroblast Conversion but Increases Extracellular Matrix Production In Vitro Leading to Increased Wound Tensile Strength in Rats.

The ability of horse chestnut extract (HCE) to induce contraction force in fibroblasts, a process with remarkable significance in skin repair, motivated us to evaluate its wound healing potential in a series of experiments. In the in vitro study of the ability of human dermal fibroblasts to form myofibroblast-like cells was evaluated at the protein level (Western blot and immunofluorescence). The in vivo study was conducted on male Sprague-Dawley rats with inflicted wounds (one open circular and one sutured incision) on their backs.