The Optimal Treatment for Partial Thickness Burns: A Cost-Utility Analysis of Skin Allograft vs. Topical Silver Dressings.

Introduction: Partial thickness burns not undergoing surgical excision are treated with topical silver products including silver sulfadiazine (SSD) and Mepilex Ag. Skin allograft is a more costly alternative that acts as definitive wound coverage until autogenous epithelialization. Economic constraints and the movement toward value-based care demand cost and outcome justification prior to adopting more costly products.

Transport and binding of tumor necrosis factor-α in articular cartilage depend on its quaternary structure.

The effect of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα) on cartilage matrix degradation is mediated by its transport and binding within the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the tissue, which mediates availability to cell receptors. Since the bioactive form of TNFα is a homotrimer of monomeric subunits, conversion between trimeric and monomeric forms during intratissue transport may affect binding to ECM and, thereby, bioactivity within cartilage. We studied the transport and binding of TNFα in cartilage, considering the quaternary structure of this cytokine.

Transport of anti-IL-6 antigen binding fragments into cartilage and the effects of injury.

The efficacy of biological therapeutics against cartilage degradation in osteoarthritis is restricted by the limited transport of macromolecules through the dense, avascular extracellular matrix. The availability of biologics to cell surface and matrix targets is limited by steric hindrance of the matrix, and the microstructure of matrix itself can be dramatically altered by joint injury and the subsequent inflammatory response. We studied the transport into cartilage of a 48 kDa anti-IL-6 antigen binding fragment (Fab) using an in vitro model of joint injury to quantify the transport of Fab fragments into normal and mechanically injured cartilage.