Backpack-carrying macrophage immunotherapy for periodontitis.

Cell immunotherapy is a promising therapeutic modality to combat unmet medical needs. Macrophages offer a prominent cell therapy modality since their phenotypic plasticity allows them to perform a variety of roles including defending against pathogens, inducing/suppressing adaptive immunity, and aiding in wound healing. At the same time, this plasticity is a major hurdle in implementation of macrophage therapy.

Pump-driven clinical infusions: laboratory comparison of pump types, fluid composition and flow rates on model drug delivery applying a new quantitative tool, the pharmacokinetic coefficient of short-term variation (PK-CV).

Critically ill or anesthetized patients commonly receive pump-driven intravenous infusions of potent, fast-acting, short half-life medications for managing hemodynamics. Stepwise dosing, e.g.

Polymer Backpack-Loaded Tissue Infiltrating Monocytes for Treating Cancer.

Adoptive cell therapies are dramatically altering the treatment landscape of cancer. However, treatment of solid tumors remains a major unmet need, in part due to limited adoptive cell infiltration into the tumor and in part due to the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. The heterogeneity of tumors and presence of nonresponders also call for development of antigen-independent therapeutic approaches.

Backpack-mediated anti-inflammatory macrophage cell therapy for the treatment of traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a debilitating disease with no current therapies outside of acute clinical management. While acute, controlled inflammation is important for debris clearance and regeneration after injury, chronic, rampant inflammation plays a significant adverse role in the pathophysiology of secondary brain injury. Immune cell therapies hold unique therapeutic potential for inflammation modulation, due to their active sensing and migration abilities.

Polymer Micropatches as Natural Killer Cell Engagers for Tumor Therapy.

Natural killer (NK) cell therapies have emerged as a potential therapeutic approach to various cancers. Their efficacy, however, is limited by their low persistence and anergy. Current approaches to sustain NK cell persistence include genetic modification, activation via pretreatment, or coadministration of supporting cytokines or antibodies.

Materials for Cell Surface Engineering.

Cell therapies are emerging as a promising new therapeutic modality in medicine, generating effective treatments for previously incurable diseases. Clinical success of cell therapies has energized the field of cellular engineering, spurring further exploration of novel approaches to improve their therapeutic performance. Engineering of cell surfaces using natural and synthetic materials has emerged as a valuable tool in this endeavor.

Red Blood Cell Anchoring Enables Targeted Transduction and Re-Administration of AAV-Mediated Gene Therapy.

Adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated gene therapy is a promising therapeutic modality for curing many diseases including monogenic diseases. However, limited tissue-targeting and restricted re-administration due to the vector immunogenicity largely restrict its therapeutic potential. Here, using a red blood cell (RBC) as the carrier vehicle for AAV is demonstrated to improve its tissue-targeted transduction and enable its re-administration.

Systematic characterization of effect of flow rates and buffer compositions on double emulsion droplet volumes and stability.

Double emulsion droplets (DEs) are water/oil/water droplets that can be sorted fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS), allowing for new opportunities in high-throughput cellular analysis, enzymatic screening, and synthetic biology. These applications require stable, uniform droplets with predictable microreactor volumes. However, predicting DE droplet size, shell thickness, and stability as a function of flow rate has remained challenging for monodisperse single core droplets and those containing biologically-relevant buffers, which influence bulk and interfacial properties.

Initiation of an Emulsion Microinfusion: Flow Direction Influences Delivery Onset Rate.

Critically ill and anesthetized patients commonly receive life-sustaining medications by pump-driven continuous intravenous infusion. Microinfusion refers to delivering concentrated drugs with low flow carriers to conserve fluid administration. Most infused medications are water-soluble.

Polymeric-nanofluids stabilized emulsions: Interfacial versus bulk rheology.

Hypothesis: The properties of oil-in-water emulsions are influenced by the rheology of the aqueous phase (continuous phase) and the rheology of the oil-water interfaces. The bulk and interfacial rheological parameters can be tuned by incorporating nanoparticles (NPs) featuring different surface chemistries and polymers with different chemical or physical structures. Therefore, NPs and polymers can be used to formulate emulsions with different properties.

Evaluation of Quality of Life and Pattern of Improvement of Bronchial Asthma in Chronic Rhinosinusitis Patients Treated by Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery.

Chronic inflammatory disorders of the upper airways are extremely prevalent and have a major impact on public health. Sinusitis and bronchial asthma are closely interrelated diseases and sinusitis is known to influence bronchial asthma in its severity and chronicity. Causal relationships have been proposed but not yet proved.

Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome: A therapeutic paradox.

A 41-year-old HIV positive woman was started on highly active antiretroviral therapy when her CD(4) count was 54/cu mm. Three weeks later, she developed erythematous to skin-colored plaques over the face. Investigations revealed a moderate eosinophilia, raised ESR, elevated 24-hour urinary calcium and hyperglobulinemia.

Sinonasal carcinoma masquerading as fungal sinusitis.

A 26-year-old man presented with swelling of his face and nose of three months duration. He had multiple hyperpigmented, hyperkeratotic plaques over the swelling, of one-month duration and an erythematous indurated plaque below the left nostril for two weeks. Based on a biopsy taken from the antral mass with special stain for fungus, he was treated as fungal sinusitis with intravenous amphotericin-B, but the lesion did not regress.

Carbamazepine--the commonest cause of toxic epidermal necrolysis and Stevens-Johnson syndrome: a study of 7 years.

Background: Toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) and Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) are a group of severe life threatening drug reactions. The drugs commonly implicated as the cause of these drug reactions vary depending on host factors and the prescription pattern of drugs in that particular area.

Aim: The aim of the study was to find the drugs implicated as the cause of SJS/TEN in the patients admitted in the dermatology ward at the Medical College, Thrissur and to find the clinical outcome.

Protective effect of Liv.52 and Liv.100, ayurvedic formulations on lipid peroxidation in rat liver homogenate--an in vitro study.

Liv.100 is an improvised herbal formulation of Liv.52.

Acrokeratosis paraneoplastica.

A 60-year old man with squamous cell carcinoma of hypopharynx and acrokeratosis paraneoplastica (Bazex syndrome) is reported.

Antitumor, anti-inflammatory and analgesic property of embelin, a plant product.

Embelin, a plant-based benzoquinone derivative, has been found to exhibit significant antitumor activity in methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma in albino rats besides enhancing their survival time. The drug also has an appreciable action on pain and inflammation. The changes in DNA, RNA and protein levels in various organs in the tumor-bearing control and the drug-treated animals were also studied.

Milker's Dermatitis.

Twenty five cases suspected to have milker's dertiatitiswere clinically studied including tests with various self-made antigens. Eight cases showed positive patch tests results. Two cases showed cay saliva and one case showed under shaves as the allergen.