Pterygium Pathology: A Prospective Case-Control Study on Tear Film Cytokine Levels.

Pterygium is a common eye disease, linked to an increased exposure to UV radiation and dry environments. The associated pathology culminates in visual impairment and, in some rare cases, blindness. However, there remains a lot of uncertainty concerning the pathogenesis of this fibrovascular lesion.

Biocompatibility of a fish scale-derived artificial cornea: Cytotoxicity, cellular adhesion and phenotype, and in vivo immunogenicity.

Purpose: To determine whether a fish scale-derived collagen matrix (FSCM) meets the basic criteria to serve as an artificial cornea, as determined with in vitro and in vivo tests.

Methods: Primary corneal epithelial and stromal cells were obtained from human donor corneas and used to examine the (in)direct cytotoxicity effects of the scaffold. Cytotoxicity was assessed by an MTT assay, while cellular proliferation, corneal cell phenotype and adhesion markers were assessed using an EdU-assay and immunofluorescence.

Stimulation of titanium implant osseointegration through high-frequency vibration loading is enhanced when applied at high acceleration.

Low-magnitude high-frequency loading, applied by means of whole body vibration (WBV), affects the bone. Deconstructing a WBV loading stimulus into its constituent elements and investigating the effects of frequency and acceleration individually on bone tissue kinetics around titanium implants were aimed for in this study. A titanium implant was inserted in the tibia of 120 rats.

Results of a phase I/II clinical trial: standardized, non-xenogenic, cultivated limbal stem cell transplantation.

Background: To determine if a standardized, non-xenogenic, reduced manipulation cultivation and surgical transplantation of limbal stem cell grafts is a safe and effective treatment option for patients with total and partial limbal stem cell deficiency.

Methods: In vitro cellular outgrowth and phenotype of the limbal epithelial cell and composite grafts were validated using a new protocol. Patients received either autologous (n = 15) or allogenic (n = 3) explants cultured using a standardized protocol free from xenogenic products.

Influence of whole-body vibration time on peri-implant bone healing: a histomorphometrical animal study.

Purpose: to examine the influence of time of low-magnitude, high-frequency (LMHF) loading, whole-body vibration (WBV) on peri-implant bone healing.

Materials And Methods: a custom-made Ti implant was inserted into the medio-proximal site of one tibia of 95 rats and was left to heal for 1 or 4 weeks. The daily WBV consisted of 15 consecutive frequency steps (12, 20, 30, …, 150 Hz) at an acceleration of 0.