The combination of IGF-I and KGF cDNA improves dermal and epidermal regeneration by increased VEGF expression and neovascularization.

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) cDNA gene transfer individually improves dermal and epidermal regeneration. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the combination of IGF-I plus KGF cDNA further improves wound healing and by which mechanisms these changes occur. Rats received an acute wound and were divided into four groups to receive weekly subcutaneous injections of liposomes plus Lac Z cDNA, liposomes plus IGF-I cDNA, liposomes plus KGF cDNA, or liposomes plus IGF-I/KGF cDNA.

The influence of age and gender on resting energy expenditure in severely burned children.

Introduction: Recent evidence suggests that female severely burned children have higher endogenous anabolic hormone levels and a shorter ICU stay compared with males. The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of age and gender on resting energy expenditure (REE) in severely burned children from acute hospitalization through 12 months postburn.

Methods: A total of 100 pediatric patients with > 40% total body surface area (TBSA) burn were enrolled in a prospective study and followed by indirect calorimetry measurements.

The inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase in ovine sepsis model.

Excessive NO has been shown to play a major role in the pathogenesis of multiple organ dysfunctions in septic condition. Burn injury, especially if it is associated with smoke inhalation, is often complicated by subsequent development of pneumonia or sepsis that determine the outcome. In the present study, we developed an ovine sepsis model, created by exposing sheep to smoke inhalation followed by instillation of bacteria into the airway, that closely mimics human sepsis and pneumonia.

The effect of growth hormone on gut mucosal homeostasis and cellular mediators after severe trauma.

Background: Gut mucosal integrity and function is impaired after severe trauma with associated increases in small bowel epithelial cell apoptosis and decreases in cell proliferation. Growth hormone improves gastrointestinal function during chemotherapy and has anabolic effects on protein synthesis. The purpose of this study was to determine whether growth hormone can improve small bowel homeostasis after injury and by which cellular mechanisms these changes occur.

The structure and composition of liposomes can affect skin regeneration, morphology and growth factor expression in acute wounds.

Liposomal gene transfer is an effective therapeutic approach to improve dermal and epidermal regeneration. The purpose of the present study was to define whether the biological or chemical structure of a liposome influences cellular and biological regeneration in the skin, and to determine by which mechanisms possible changes occur. Rats were inflicted a full-excision acute wound and divided into three groups to receive weekly subcutaneous injections of DMRIE liposomes plus the Lac Z gene, or DOTAP/Chol liposomes plus the Lac Z gene, or saline.

Interaction of exogenous liposomal insulin-like growth factor-I cDNA gene transfer with growth factors on collagen expression in acute wounds.

Growth factors have been shown to modulate the complex cascade of wound healing, however, interaction between different growth factors during dermal and epidermal regeneration is still not entirely defined. We have recently shown that exogenous liposomal gene transfer of cDNA results in physiologic expression and response in an acute wound. In the present study we determined the interaction between insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), a mesenchymal growth factor, administered as liposomal cDNA, with other dermal and epidermal growth factors on collagen synthesis in an acute wound.

Insulin prevents liver damage and preserves liver function in lipopolysaccharide-induced endotoxemic rats.

Background/aims: Liver integrity and function are crucial for survival of patients suffering from trauma, operations or infections. Insulin decreased mortality and prevented the incidence of multi organ failure and infection in critically ill patients. The aim of the present study was to determine whether insulin exerts positive effects on hepatic homeostasis and function during endotoxemia.

Endogenous anabolic hormones and hypermetabolism: effect of trauma and gender differences.

Objective: Protein degradation, negative nitrogen balance and compromised structure of essential organs have been associated with resistance and decreased production of anabolic hormones. In turn, increased levels of anabolic hormones are associated with improved survival. The aims of the present study were to determine the pattern of anabolic hormones, resting energy expenditure and cytokines in severely thermally injured pediatric patients and to compare these parameters in female and male patients.

Effect of growth factors as therapeutic drugs on hepatic metabolism during the systemic inflammatory response syndrome.

Characteristic for critically ill patients is a hypermetabolism and catabolism that is associated with impairment of the structure and function of essential organs, such as the immune system, kidney, peripheral muscles and the liver. The liver-gut-axis, with liver integrity, metabolism and function are crucial for survival of patients suffering from trauma, operations or infections. The hepatic acute phase response represents a cascade of events characterized by the upregulation of acute phase proteins and the downregulation of constitutive hepatic proteins.

Ketorolac attenuates cardiopulmonary derangements in sheep with combined burn and smoke inhalation injury.

Massive cutaneous burn combined with smoke inhalation causes high mortality in fire victims. Cyclo-oxygenase (COX) and inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase (iNOS) have been shown to be up-regulated in burn injury. Ketorolac, a non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory agent (NSAID), inhibits prostaglandin and thromboxane synthesis through inhibition of COX.

Natural and nosocomial infection in a patient with West Nile encephalitis and extrapyramidal movement disorders.

Since its first recognition in North America in 1999, West Nile virus (WNV) has spread rapidly across the continent, but in many communities, rapid diagnostic tests for detection of WNV infection are not fully available. We describe a patient with extrapyramidal movement disorders and changes in the basal ganglia noted on magnetic resonance images that are characteristic of other flavivirus encephalitides and may help in the recognition of patients with West Nile encephalitis. Detailed molecular analysis suggested that, although our patient received a blood transfusion infected with WNV, the virus that caused his initial infection and encephalitis was probably acquired naturally from a mosquito.

NF-kappaB activity decreases in basal forebrain of young and aged rats after hyperoxia.

Hyperoxia is an oxidative stressor that triggers signaling cascades via changes in promoter activation by transcription factors. The transcription factor NF-kappaB has been shown to regulate transcription of many genes that play a role in inflammation and recovery from acute or chronic trauma. Here we describe the effects of hyperoxia on basal levels of NF-kappaB activity in young and aged rat forebrain.

Modulation of types I and II acute phase reactants with insulin-like growth factor-1/binding protein-3 complex in severely burned children.

Objective: To determine whether 0.5 mg/kg insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1/binding protein (IGFBP)-3, given intravenously, effectively alters the acute phase response in severely burned children.

Design: Longitudinal trial with each patient serving as their own control.

Langerhans cell histiocytosis in a child while in remission for acute lymphocytic leukemia.

The occurrence of Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) and malignancy in the same patient is rare. When LCH occurs concomitantly with acute leukemia, distinct temporal patterns often exist; acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) typically succeeds LCH, whereas acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) usually precedes it. We report a case of LCH developing in a child while in remission for ALL.

IGF-I/BP-3 administration preserves hepatic homeostasis after thermal injury which is associated with increases in no and hepatic NF-kappa B.

After a severe trauma, such as a cutaneous thermal injury, an increase in hepatocyte apoptosis has been associated with hepatocyte damage and impairment in hepatic function. Insulinlike growth factor-I (IGF-I) exerts antiapoptotic effects in several organs, thus improving organ homeostasis. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether IGF-I in combination with its principle binding protein-3 (BP-3) attenuates liver damage after a burn and whether this attenuation is through signals of the apoptotic-proliferative axis of hepatocytes.

Cell proliferation, apoptosis, NF-kappaB expression, enzyme, protein, and weight changes in livers of burned rats.

Thermal injury has been shown to alter gut epithelium and heart myocyte homeostasis by inducing programmed cell death. The effect of thermal injury on hepatocyte apoptosis and proliferation, however, has not been established. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a large thermal injury increases liver cell apoptosis and proliferation and whether these changes were associated with alterations in hepatic nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) expression and changes in liver enzymes and amount of protein.

Hepatocyte growth factor modulates the hepatic acute-phase response in thermally injured rats.

Objective: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to modulate the acute-phase response in vitro. The specific in vivo role of HGF in this multifactorial response, however, remains unknown. This study examines the effects of exogenous HGF on the acute-phase response in thermally injured rats.

The combination of growth hormone with hepatocyte growth factor alters the acute phase response.

Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) have both been shown to individually modulate hepatic acute phase reactant proteins and cytokine expression following trauma through different pathways. Recombinant hGH has also been shown to decrease serum and hepatic HGF concentrations after a thermal injury. We hypothesized that the combination of rhGH plus HGF improves the burn-induced acute phase response.

Habenula lesions decrease the responsiveness of dorsal raphe serotonin neurons to cocaine.

The median and dorsal (MR and DR) raphe nuclei are the origin of serotonin (5-HT)-containing neurons that innervate the forebrain. Neurons originating in the medial and lateral habenula provide an extensive afferent input to the midbrain that could serve as a negative feedback circuit. The present study was undertaken to establish whether intact habenula nuclei are required to observe the depressant effects of cocaine on the neural activity of 5-HT somata in the DR.

Dexamethasone reverses glucocorticoid receptor RNA depression in multi-drug resistant (MDR) myeloma cell lines.

Glucocorticoid receptors and glucocorticoid receptor RNA (GR RNA) were measured in doxorubicin resistant myeloma cell lines to investigate the relationship between multi-drug resistance and glucocorticoid sensitivity. Glucocorticoid binding sites and GR RNA were found to be lowered in all the tested doxorubicin resistant cell lines: R10, R40 and R60 compared to the untreated wild type RPMI 8226 cells (Dalton, et al., 1984).

Functional galactosyl receptors on isolated rat hepatocytes are hetero-oligomers.

Several lines of indirect evidence have supported the conclusion that rat hepatic asialoglycoprotein (or galactosyl; Gal) receptors are hetero-oligomeric. In the present study more direct evidence was obtained using specific antibodies. The Gal receptor contains three different subunits; RHL 1, RHL 2 and RHL 3.

Probe-evoked potential findings following unilateral left-hemisphere lesions in children.

An evoked potentials procedure that has repeatedly provided evidence of predominant right-hemisphere engagement during language tasks in recovered adult aphasics was applied to the study of 14 children with early unilateral left-hemisphere lesions and in 14 matched normal subjects. In contrast with the adult patients, the children with left-hemisphere lesions displayed the normal pattern of predominant left-hemisphere engagement in visuospatial tasks. These data suggest that language restitution and development following early lesions involves intrahemispheric rather than interhemispheric functional reorganization.