Muscle progenitor cells are required for skeletal muscle regeneration and prevention of adipogenesis after limb ischemia.

Skeletal muscle injury in peripheral artery disease (PAD) has been attributed to vascular insufficiency, however evidence has demonstrated that muscle cell responses play a role in determining outcomes in limb ischemia. Here, we demonstrate that genetic ablation of Pax7 muscle progenitor cells (MPCs) in a model of hindlimb ischemia (HLI) inhibited muscle regeneration following ischemic injury, despite a lack of morphological or physiological changes in resting muscle. Compared to control mice (Pax7), the ischemic limb of Pax7-deficient mice (Pax7) was unable to generate significant force 7 or 28 days after HLI.

Patterns-of-care disparities among uninsured versus insured patients with anorectal carcinoma referred for radiotherapy at an Urban Safety-Net Hospital.

Background: To compare patterns-of-care and clinical outcomes among uninsured versus insured patients (IPs) with anorectal malignancies referred for radiotherapy at an urban safety-net hospital. This topic is important because uninsured patients (UPs) in the US often have limited access to health care, which can result in worse health outcomes.

Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 59 patients with biopsy-proven, non-metastatic anal and rectal cancers who received curative-intent primary or neoadjuvant/adjuvant radiotherapy between May 2002 and August 2012.

Methods for Acute and Subacute Murine Hindlimb Ischemia.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in developed countries, and animal models that reliably reproduce the human disease are necessary to develop new therapies for this disease. The mouse hindlimb ischemia model has been widely used for this purpose, but the standard practice of inducing acute limb ischemia by ligation of the femoral artery can result in substantial tissue necrosis, compromising investigators' ability to study the vascular and skeletal muscle tissue responses to ischemia. An alternative approach to femoral artery ligation is the induction of gradual femoral artery occlusion through the use of ameroid constrictors.

Subacute limb ischemia induces skeletal muscle injury in genetically susceptible mice independent of vascular density.

Objective: The primary preclinical model of peripheral artery disease, which involves acute limb ischemia (ALI), can result in appreciable muscle injury that is attributed to the acuity of the ischemic injury. A less acute model of murine limb ischemia using ameroid constrictors (ACs) has been developed in an attempt to mimic the chronic nature of human disease. However, there is currently little understanding of how genetics influence muscle injury following subacute arterial occlusion in the mouse.