Pien-Tze-Huang alleviates CCl-induced liver fibrosis through the inhibition of HSC autophagy and the TGF-β1/Smad2 pathway.

Pien-Tze-Huang (PZH)-a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compound-has been employed to treat various liver inflammation and tumors for over 10 decades. Interestingly, most of the pharmacological effects had been validated and explored toward liver ailment along with pro-inflammatory conditions and cancer at the cellular and molecular level to date. The present study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of PZH on autophagy and TGF-β1 signaling pathways in rats with liver fibrosis and hepatic stellate cell line (HSC).

Progress in Parkinson's disease animal models of genetic defects: Characteristics and application.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second major progressive neurodegenerative disease, which critically impacts patients' quality of life. Based on genetics, animal models of genetic defects created by gene editing technology have clear advantages in reflecting PD's pathogenesis and pathological characteristics and exploring potential therapeutic targets for PD. In this review, we summarized animal models of genetic defects in various pathogenesis of PD, including α-synuclein abnormal encoding, autophagy-lysosome system defects, ubiquitin protease system defects, and mitochondria-related dysfunction, and discuss their respective advantages, limitations, and application directions to provide a reference for the application of animal models of PD and research on anti-PD therapy.

scarless skin healing of a severe human burn wound induced by a hCTLA4Ig gene-transferred porcine skin graft.

Preventing fibrosis or hypertrophic scar formation following tissue damage is still a big challenge despite the numerous approaches clinicians currently use. Hitherto, no written account was available of a successful case of scarless skin healing after a severe burn injury. Here, we report the first case of the "perfect regenerative healing" of a severe burn wound with no hypertrophic scar formation in which a postage stamp skin autograft was covered with human cytotoxic-T-lymphocyte associated antigen4-immunoglobulin (hCTLA4Ig) gene-transferred pig skin.

Subcutaneous Low-Density Foreign Bodies Detection via Grating-Based Multimodal X-ray Imaging.

Detecting low-density foreign bodies within soft tissues still stands for a serious challenge. Grating-based multimodal X-ray imaging typically has low hardware requirements while simultaneously providing three kinds of imaging information, i.e.

Identification of microbes in wounds using near-infrared spectroscopy.

Background: Rapid diagnosis of microbes in the burn wound is a big challenge in the medical field. Traditional biochemical detection techniques take hours or days to identify the species of contaminating and drug-resistant microbes. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is evaluated to address the need for a fast and sensitive method for the detection of bacterial contamination in liquids.

A novel method for objectively, rapidly and accurately evaluating burn depth via near infrared spectroscopy.

The accurate and objective evaluation of burn depth is a significant challenge in burn wound care. Herein, we used near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technology to measure the different depth of thermal burns in porcine models. Based on the intensity of the spectral signals and the diffuse reflection theory, we extracted the optical parameters involved in functional (total hemoglobin and water content) and structural (tissue scattered size and scattered particles) features that reflect the changes in burn depth.

and biocompatibility and inflammation response of methacrylated and maleated hyaluronic acid for wound healing.

Over the past few years, different and studies have been highlighting the great potentiality of hyaluronic acid (HA) as a biomaterial in wound healing treatment thanks to its good capability to induce mesenchymal and epithelial cell growth and differentiation, angiogenesis, and collagen deposition. However, the need to improve its mechanical properties as well as its residence time has led scientists to study new functionalization strategies. In this work, chemically modified HA-based hydrogels were obtained by methacrylic and maleic functionalization.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical Effectiveness and Safety of Hydrogel Dressings in the Management of Skin Wounds.

The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to assess the clinical effectiveness and safety of the medical hydrogel dressings used in skin wounds and therefore to weight the evidence for their clinical application. PubMed/Medline (1980-2019), Cochrane Library (1980-2019), ClinicalTrials.gov, Cochrane CENTRAL, Chinese Journal Full-text Database (CNKI, 1994-2019), and China Biomedy Medicine disc (CBM, 1978-2019), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP, 1989-2019), and Wanfang Database (WFDATA, 1980-2019) were searched to identify relevant clinical trials and studies.

Selective debridement of burn wounds using hydrosurgery system.

In recent years, hydrosurgery is a technology that has been applied more and more in debridement procedures. However, the selectivity of hydrosurgery to cutaneous necrotic tissues has not been proved. This study was designed to investigate the possible tissue selectivity of hydrosurgery in the debridement in burn wounds.

Knockdown of macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 in RPMI-8226 human multiple myeloma cells inhibits osteoclastic differentiation through inhibiting the RANKL-Erk1/2 signaling pathway.

Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) often develop myeloma bone disease (MBD). The development of MBD from MM is considered to be caused by an abnormal bone marrow microenvironment. Macrophage inhibitory cytokine-1 (MIC-1) is a member of the transforming growth factor‑β superfamily.

Treadmill exercise enhances therapeutic potency of transplanted bone mesenchymal stem cells in cerebral ischemic rats via anti-apoptotic effects.

Background: The transplantation of bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) has proved to ameliorate ischemic brain injury in animals, but most transplanted MSCs undergo apoptosis in the ischemic penumbra, greatly compromising the therapeutic value of this treatment. Meanwhile, cell apoptosis can be inhibited by post-ischemia exercise which has been demonstrated to improve the expression of related anti-apoptotic proteins. The present study investigated whether treadmill exercise enhances the neuroprotective effects of transplanted MSCs in a rat experimental stroke model.

Identification of the Avulsion-Injured Spinal Motoneurons.

In laboratory studies, counting the spinal motoneurons that survived axonal injury is a major method to estimate the severity and regenerative capacity of the injured motoneurons after the axonal injury and rehabilitation surgery. However, the typical motoneuron marker, the choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), could not be detected in the injured motoneurons within the first 3-4 weeks postinjury. It is necessary to explore the useful and reliable specific phenotypic markers to assess the fate of injured motoneurons in axonal injury.

Effects of transplantation with bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells modified by Survivin on experimental stroke in rats.

Background: This study was performed to determine whether injury induced by cerebral ischemia could be further improved by transplantation with bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) modified by Survivin (SVV).

Methods: MSCs derived from bone marrow of male Sprague-Dawley rats were infected by the self-inactive lentiviral vector GCFU carrying green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene and SVV recombinant vector (GCFU-SVV). In vitro, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) were detected in infected MSCs supernatants under hypoxic conditions by ELSIA.