The Charles procedure (CP) is a potentially devastating treatment; however, in cases of an end stage of untreated or improperly treated lymphedema, it is the ultimate surgical therapy. As a life-saving solution, it quickly relieves patients with giant, hypertrophic extremities, mostly in ambulation and hygiene maintenance. Nevertheless, long-term results may disappoint both doctors and patients, who struggle with social stigma, the need for lifelong compression, massive lymphoedema in the distal parts of the feet, badly fitting shoes, excessive skin fibrosis, severe keratinization of skin-grafted surfaces, periodic lymphorrhea from the resected areas, or acute and chronic inflammation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMaterials for the conservation of cultural heritage must meet specific demands, such as high durability, service life, and compatibility with other materials used in the original building structures. Due to their low permeability to water and water vapor and their high rigidity, the use of Portland cement (PC) mortars, despite their high mechanical resistance and durability, does not represent an appropriate solution for the repair of historic masonry and structures. Their incompatibility with the original materials used in the past, often on a lime basis, is therefore a serious deficiency for their application.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn advanced lymphedema of lower limbs, stage III bandaging under the routinely applied pressure of 40-60 mmHg remains largely ineffective. This is caused by skin and subcutaneous tissue stiffness due to fibrosis. Edema fluid accumulates deep in the subcutaneous tissue.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpidemiological studies report an elevated risk of Parkinson's disease (PD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) that is mitigated in those prescribed dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitors. With an objective to characterize clinically translatable doses of DPP-4 inhibitors (gliptins) in a well-characterized PD rodent model, sitagliptin, PF-00734,200 or vehicle were orally administered to rats initiated either 7-days before or 7-days after unilateral medial forebrain bundle 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) lesioning. Measures of dopaminergic cell viability, dopamine content, neuroinflammation and neurogenesis were evaluated thereafter in ipsi- and contralateral brain.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe endogenous incretins glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) possess neurotrophic, neuroprotective, and anti-neuroinflammatory actions. The dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitor sitagliptin reduces degradation of endogenous GLP-1 and GIP, and, thereby, extends the circulation of these protective peptides. The current nonhuman primate (NHP) study evaluates whether human translational sitagliptin doses can elevate systemic and central nervous system (CNS) levels of GLP-1/GIP in naive, non-lesioned NHPs, in line with our prior rodent studies that demonstrated sitagliptin efficacy in preclinical models of Parkinson's disease (PD).
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