Publications by authors named "Michael Menger"

Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) are consumed as an alternative to cannabis. Novel compounds are developed by minor modifications in their chemical structure, e.g.

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Aims: Since their emergence on the drug market, synthetic cannabinoids (SC) are still gaining increasing importance in forensic toxicology. The representatives of the so-called new psychoactive substances have in common that they have not undergone preclinical safety studies. Hence, knowledge on toxicokinetic (TK) data is sparse.

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Inflammation has been recognized as major factor for successful bone regeneration. On the other hand, a prolonged or overshooting inflammatory response can also cause fracture healing failure. The nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor protein (NLRP)3 inflammasome plays a crucial role in inflammatory cytokine production.

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Dermal substitutes require sufficient tissue integration and vascularization to be successfully covered with split-thickness skin grafts. To rapidly achieve this, we provide the proof of principle for a novel vascularization strategy with high translational potential. Nanofat was generated from subcutaneous adipose tissue of green fluorescence protein (GFP) C57BL/6J donor mice and seeded onto small samples (4 mm in diameter) of the clinically approved dermal substitute Integra.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers assessed how environmental factors (air vs. water storage) affected the concentration of cumyl-5F-P7AICA and its metabolite N-pentanoic acid (NPA) over three days, noting time-dependent concentration changes particularly in liver, bile, and muscle tissues.
  • * Results suggest that cumyl-5F-P7AICA and NPA remain fairly stable in postmortem specimens, indicating that even central blood could be analyzed for these substances when
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Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) are among the six most common cancers, with a constantly poor prognosis. Vitamin D has been found to have antineoplastic and immunomodulatory properties in various cancers. This study investigated the impact of Vitamin D on the initiation and progression as well as antitumor immune response in HNSCCs, both in vitro and in vivo.

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Introduction: Spheroids are promising building blocks for scaffold-free bone tissue engineering. Their rapid vascularization is of major importance to guarantee their survival after transplantation. To achieve this, we herein introduce the biofabrication of prevascularized spheroids by fusion of adipose tissue-derived microvascular fragments (MVF) with osteoblasts (OB).

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Alternative matrices, especially exhaled breath (EB), have gained increasing attention for a few years. To interpret toxicological findings, knowledge on the toxicokinetic (TK) properties of a substance in EB is indispensable. While such data are already accessible for various drugs (e.

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Background: Intima proliferation and in-stent restenosis is a challenging situation in interventional treatment of small vessel obstruction. Al/AlO nanowires have been shown to accelerate vascular endothelial cell proliferation and migration in vitro, while suppressing vascular smooth muscle cell growth. Moreover, surface modification of Al/AlO nanowires with poly[bis(2,2,2-trifluoromethoxy)phosphazene (PTFEP) coating enables further advantages such as reduced platelet adhesion.

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Article Synopsis
  • Electrochemotherapy (ECT) uses electroporation alongside chemotherapeutic drugs like bleomycin (BLM) to treat colorectal liver metastases, evaluated in a rat study.
  • Three groups of rats received ECT with either intravenous (i.v.), intratumoral (i.t.), or a combination of both methods for BLM injection, and various tumor metrics were measured post-treatment.
  • Results indicated that both i.v. and i.v. + i.t. groups had significantly reduced tumor oxygen saturation compared to the i.t. group, but overall tumor necrosis and other tumor characteristics were similar across all treatments, suggesting i.v. administration may be the best option in clinical practice.
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Nanofat is an autologous fat derivative with high regenerative activity, which is usually administered immediately after its generation by mechanical emulsification of adipose tissue. For its potential repeated use over longer time, we herein tested whether cryopreservation of nanofat is feasible. For this purpose, the inguinal fat pads of donor mice were processed to nanofat, which was i) frozen and stored in a freezer at -20°C, ii) shock frozen in liquid nitrogen with subsequent storage at -80°C or iii) gradually frozen and stored at -80°C.

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Many fatal intoxications have been reported in connection with the consumption of newer, highly potent synthetic cannabinoids. Yet, a possible postmortem redistribution (PMR) might complicate reliable interpretation of analytical results. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the PMR-potential of new synthetic cannabinoids.

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Gut bacteria regulate brain pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and animal models; however, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, 3-month-old APP-transgenic female mice with and without knock-out of gene were treated with antibiotics-supplemented or normal drinking water for 2 months. The antibiotic treatment eradicated almost all intestinal bacteria, which led to a reduction in Il-17a-expressing CD4-positive T lymphocytes in the spleen and gut, and to a decrease in bacterial DNA in brain tissue.

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Autologous fat grafting is a common procedure in plastic, reconstructive, and aesthetic surgery. However, it is frequently associated with an unpredictable resorption rate of the graft depending on the engraftment kinetics. This, in turn, is determined by the interaction of the grafted adipose tissue with the tissue at the recipient site.

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Periodic fasting (PF) as a form of dietary restriction has been shown to induce tissue-protective effects against ischemic injury in several different tissues. Accordingly, in this study we analyzed whether a short-term 24 h fast is suitable to prevent necrosis of musculocutaneous flap tissue undergoing acute persistent ischemia. C57BL/6N mice were randomly divided into a PF group ( = 8) and a control group that was given unrestricted access to standard chow ( = 8).

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Background: Restoration of osteochondral defects is critical, because osteoarthritis (OA) can arise.

Hypothesis: Overexpression of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) via recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors (rAAV-IGF-1) would improve osteochondral repair and reduce parameters of early perifocal OA in sheep after 6 months in vivo.

Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.

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Objective: To investigate whether tibiofemoral alignment influences early knee osteoarthritis (OA). We hypothesized that varus overload exacerbates early degenerative osteochondral changes, and that valgus underload diminishes early OA.

Method: Normal, over- and underload were induced by altering alignment via high tibial osteotomy in adult sheep (n = 8 each).

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The elderly exhibit a reduced healing capacity after fracture, which is often associated with delayed or failed bone healing. This is due to a plethora of factors, such as an impaired bone vascular system and delayed angiogenesis. The phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitor sildenafil exerts pro-angiogenic and pro-osteogenic effects.

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Nerve/glial antigen (NG)2 is highly expressed in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). However, the underlying mechanisms of its upregulated expression are largely unknown. analyses reveal that the tumor-suppressive miR-29b targets NG2.

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Article Synopsis
  • Chronic wounds pose significant challenges for both patients and the healthcare system, highlighting the need for effective treatments.
  • Researchers tested a new method using platelet-rich plasma (PRP) combined with microvascular fragments (MVF) to create a gel dressing that promotes wound healing.
  • The study found that this combination significantly accelerated healing, increased the number of blood and lymph vessels, and enhanced tissue formation compared to wounds treated with PRP alone or left empty.
  • This innovative approach could offer a promising solution for chronic wounds that struggle to heal.
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The treatment of wounds using the body's own resources is a promising approach to support the physiological regenerative process. To advance this concept, we evaluated the effect of nanofat (NF) on wound healing. For this purpose, full-thickness skin defects were created in dorsal skinfold chambers of wild-type mice.

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Fracture healing in the aged is associated with a reduced healing capacity, which often results in delayed healing or non-union formation. Many factors may contribute to this deterioration of bone regeneration, including a reduced 'angiogenic trauma response'. The phosphodiesterase-3 (PDE-3) inhibitor cilostazol has been shown to exert pro-angiogenic and pro-osteogenic effects in preclinical studies.

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Clinical islet transplantation is limited by ischemia-induced islet cell death. Recently, it has been reported that the absent in melanoma (AIM)2 inflammasome is upregulated by ischemic cell death due to recognition of aberrant cytoplasmic self-dsDNA. However, it is unknown whether AIM2 determines the outcome of islet transplantation.

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Background: Non-union formation still represents a major burden in trauma and orthopedic surgery. Moreover, aged patients are at an increased risk for bone healing failure. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) has been shown to accelerate fracture healing in young adult animals.

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