Mesenchymal stem cells reduce intervertebral disc fibrosis and facilitate repair.

Intervertebral disc degeneration is associated with back pain and radiculopathy which, being a leading cause of disability, seriously affects the quality of life and presents a hefty burden to society. There is no effective intervention for the disease and the etiology remains unclear. Here, we show that disc degeneration exhibits features of fibrosis in humans and confirmed this in a puncture-induced disc degeneration (PDD) model in rabbit.

Post pressure response of skin blood flowmotions in anesthetized rats with spinal cord injury.

Pressure ulcer is a common complication developed in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) when prolonged unrelieved pressure was applied to the body/skin and underlying tissues. The objective of this study is to assess the hyperemic response of the skin blood flowmotions in anesthetized rats with spinal cord injury subjected to prolonged pressure using spectral analysis based on wavelets transform of the periodic oscillations of the cutaneous laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) signal. A total of twenty-eight Sprague-Dawley rats were used in this study, of which 14 were normal rats and the other 14 were spinal cord injured rats with transection of the T1 spinal nerves.

The time effect of pressure on tissue viability: investigation using an experimental rat model.

An experimental rat model was used to investigate the time-pressure effect on tissue viability. External loading equivalent to 13.3 kPa (100 mm Hg) of pressure was applied to the greater trochanter and tibialis area of Sprague-Dawley rats using pneumatic indentors for duration of 6 hrs each day for 1 to 4 days.

Wavelet analysis of the effects of static magnetic field on skin blood flowmotion: investigation using an in vivo rat model.

Background: In the literature, various in vivo studies on animals have demonstrated that a static magnetic field (SMF) might maintain microvascular tone in the cutaneous microcirculatory system by its biphasic effects on vasomotion. Here, the effects of locally applied SMF on skin blood flowmotion within the stressed or unstressed skin in the trochanter area were evaluated using wavelet analysis of skin blood perfusion as measured by laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) in anesthetized rats.

Materials And Methods: Forty-eight experimental trials were carried out on twelve Sprague-Dawley rats.

Effects of prolonged compression on the variations of haemoglobin oxygenation - assessment by spectral analysis of reflectance spectrophotometry signals.

The consequences of rhythmical flow motion for nutrition and the oxygen supply to tissue are largely unknown. In this study, the periodic variations of haemoglobin oxygenation in compressed and uncompressed skin were evaluated with a reflection spectrometer using an in vivo Sprague-Dawley rat model. Skin compression was induced over the trochanter area by a locally applied external pressure of 13.