Human Stromal (Mesenchymal) Stem Cells from Bone Marrow, Adipose Tissue and Skin Exhibit Differences in Molecular Phenotype and Differentiation Potential

Human stromal (mesenchymal) stem cells (hMSCs) are multipotent stem cells with ability to differentiate into mesoderm-type cells e.g. osteoblasts and adipocytes and thus they are being introduced into clinical trials for tissue regeneration. Traditionally, hMSCs have been isolated from bone marrow, but the number of cells obtained is limited. Here, we compared the MSC-like cell populations, obtained from alternative sources for MSC: adipose tissue and skin, with the standard phenotype of human bone marrow MSC (BM-MSCs). MSC from human adipose tissue (human adipose stromal cells (hATSCs)) and human skin (human adult skin stromal cells, (hASSCs) and human new-born skin stromal cells (hNSSCs)) grew readily in culture and the growth rate was highest in hNSSCs and lowest in hATSCs. Compared with phenotype of hBM-MSC, all cell populations were CD34(-), CD45(-), CD14(-), CD31(-), HLA-DR(-), CD13(+), CD29(+), CD44(+), CD73(+), CD90(+),and CD105(+). When exposed to in vitro differentiation, hATSCs, hASSCs and hNSSCs exhibited quantitative differences in their ability to differentiate into adipocytes and to osteoblastic cells. Using a microarray-based approach we have unveiled a common MSC molecular signature composed of 33 CD markers including known MSC markers and several novel markers e.g. CD165, CD276, and CD82. However, significant differences in the molecular phenotype between these different stromal cell populations were observed suggesting ontological and functional differences. In conclusion, MSC populations obtained from different tissues exhibit significant differences in their proliferation, differentiation and molecular phenotype, which should be taken into consideration when planning their use in clinical protocols

Hospital clusters of invasive Group B Streptococcal disease: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: To characterize outbreaks of invasive Group B Streptococcal (iGBS) disease in hospitals. METHODS: Systematic review using electronic databases to identify studies describing iGBS outbreaks/clusters or cross-infection/acquisition in healthcare settings where 'cluster' was defined as ≥2 linked cases. PROSPERO CRD42018096297. RESULTS: Twenty-five references were included describing 30 hospital clusters (26 neonatal, 4 adult) in 11 countries from 1966 to 2019. Cross-infection between unrelated neonates was reported in 19 clusters involving an early-onset (<7 days of life; n = 3), late-onset (7-90 days; n = 13) index case or colonized infant (n = 3) followed by one or more late-onset cases (median serial interval 9 days (IQR 3-17, range 0-50 days, n = 45)); linkage was determined by phage typing in 3 clusters, PFGE/MLST/PCR in 8, WGS in 4, non-molecular methods in 4. Postulated routes of transmission in neonatal clusters were via clinical personnel and equipment, particularly during periods of crowding and high patient-to-nurse ratio. Of 4 adult clusters, one was attributed to droplet spread between respiratory cases, one to handling of haemodialysis catheters and two unspecified. CONCLUSIONS: Long intervals between cases were identified in most of the clusters, a characteristic which potentially hinders detection of GBS hospital outbreaks without enhanced surveillance supported by genomics

Effects of defatted dried roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.) seed powder on lipid profiles of hypercholesterolemia rats.

BACKGROUND: In vivo investigations were made of the effect of defatted dried roselle seed powder (DRS) on the lipid profiles of rats with induced hypercholesterolemia. The two-batch sample consisted of 23 and 20 Sprague-Dawley male rats randomly divided into four groups and fed with four different diets. The first batch of rats was fed with normal, hypercholesterol, hypercholesterol + 10 g kg-1 (w/w) DRS and hypercholesterol + 20 g kg-1 (w/w) DRS diets. The second batch of rats was fed with normal, hypercholesterol, hypercholesterol + 50 g kg-1 (w/w) DRS and hypercholesterol + 150 g kg-1 (w/w) DRS diets. Treatments were given for a total of 5 weeks. RESULTS: Results indicated that the addition of 10 g kg-1 and 20 g kg-1 of DRS did not significantly lower the plasma total cholesterol (TC) levels. In contrast, 50 g kg-1 and 150 g kg-1 DRS significantly lowered (P &lt; 0.05) the TC and low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels. CONCLUSION: The addition of 50 g kg-1 and 150 g kg-1 DRS showed potential hypocholesterolemic effects. Furthermore, these findings indicated that protein, lipid and dietary fibre were high in the seed powder

In vitro assessment of Function Graded (FG) artificial Hip joint stem in terms of bone/cement stresses: 3D Finite Element (FE) study

Abstract Background Stress shielding in the cemented hip prosthesis occurs due to the mismatching in the mechanical properties of metallic stem and bone. This mismatching in properties is considered as one of the main reasons for implant loosening. Therefore, a new stem material in orthopedic surgery is still required. In the present study, 3D finite element modeling is used for evaluating the artificial hip joint stem that is made of Function Graded (FG) material in terms of joint stress distributions and stem length. Method 3D finite element models of different stems made of two types of FG materials and traditional stems made of Cobalt Chromium alloy (CoCrMo) and Titanium alloy (Ti) were developed using the ANSYS Code. The effects on the total artificial hip joint stresses (Shear stress and Von Mises stresses at bone cement, Von Mises stresses at bone and stem) due to using the proposed FG materials stems were investigated. The effects on the total artificial hip joint system stresses due to using different stem lengths were investigated. Results Using FG stem (with low stiffness at stem distal end and high stiffness at its proximal end) resulted in a significant reduction in shear stress at the bone cement/stem interface. Also, the Von Mises stresses at the bone cement and stem decrease significantly when using FG material instead of CoCrMo and Ti alloy. The stresses’ distribution along the bone cement length when using FG material was found to be more uniform along the whole bone cement compared with other stem materials. These more uniform stresses will help in the reduction of the artificial hip joint loosening rate and improve its short and long term performance. Conclusion FE results showed that using FG stem increases the resultant stresses at the femur bone (reduces stress shielding) compared to metallic stem. The results showed that the stem length has significant effects on the resultant shear and Von Mises stresses at bone, stem and bone cement for all types of stem materials.</p

Articular cartilage changes associated with bony contusions in anterior cruciate ligament injury

AbstractObjectivesThe goal of the present study was to determine whether a correlation exists between bone contusions sustained with anterior cruciate ligament injury and the articular cartilage changes observed during reconstructive surgery.MethodsAcross-sectional study was conducted over 5years for consecutive knees undergoing ACL reconstruction. Clinical data, MRI evaluation, and Arthroscopic findings were reported. Analysis of the data was achieved by using the Fisher’s exact test.ResultsThirty six patients with 37 knees were included. Their mean age was 23.9years. There were 19 males and 17 females. The mean time from injury to MRI was 3months. The mean time from injury to surgery was 9.86months. Bone contusions were seen in 30% of medial femoral condyles and medial tibial plateaus.A strong correlation was observed between presence of bone contusions and articular surface damage on the medial femoral condyle (p=0.026) and the medial tibial plateau (p=0.011). There were no correlation between bone contusions and articular surface damage on the lateral femoral condyle (p=1.0) and the lateral tibial plateau (p=0.69).ConclusionAlthough lateral compartment bone contusions are more commonly seen following injury, we have not found this to be associated with the status of the overlying cartilage.Degenerative changes in the ACL-deficient knee are multifactorial, but medial compartment bone contusion may be an important contributor that warrants further investigation

Fabrication of highly porous biodegradable biomimetic nanocomposite as advanced bone tissue scaffold

Development of bioinspired or biomimetic materials is currently a challenge in the field of tissue regeneration. In-situ 3D biomimetic microporous nanocomposite scaffold has been developed using a simple lyophilization post hydrothermal reaction for bone healing applications. The fabricated 3D porous scaffold possesses advantages of good bonelike apatite particles distribution, thermal properties and high porous interconnected network structure. High dispersion bonelike apatite nanoparticles (NPs) rapidly nucleated and deposited from surrounding biological minerals within chitosan (CTS) matrices using hydrothermal technique. After that, freeze-drying method was applied on the composite solution to form the desired porous 3D architecture. Interestingly, the porosity and pore size of composite scaffold were not significantly affected by the particles size and particles content within the CTS matrix. Our results demonstrated that the compression modulus of porous composite scaffold is twice higher than that of plain CTS scaffold, indicating a maximization of the chemical interaction between polymer matrix and apatite NPs. Cytocompatibility test for MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblasts cell line using MTT-indirect assay test showed that the fabricated 3D microporous nanocomposite scaffold possesses higher cell proliferation and growth than that of pure CTS scaffold. Collectively, our results suggest that the newly developed highly porous apatite/CTS nanocomposite scaffold as an alternative of hydroxyapatite/CTS scaffold may serve as an excellent porous 3D platform for bone tissue regeneration

Biocompatibility properties of polyamide 6/PCL blends composite textile scaffold using EA.hy926 human endothelial cells

Enhancing the cytocompatibility profiles, including cell attachment, growth and viability, of designed synthetic scaffolds, has a pivotal role in tissue engineering applications. Polymer blending is one of the most effective methods for providing new desirable biomaterials for tissue scaffolds. This article reports a novel polyamide 6/poly(ϵ-caprolactone) (PA6/PCL) blends solution which was fabricated to create composite fibrous tissue scaffolds by varying the concentration ratios of PA6 and PCL. Highly porous blends of fibrous scaffold were fabricated and their suitability as cell-support for EA.hy926 human endothelial cells was studied. Our results demonstrated that the unique nanoscale morphological properties and tune porosity of the blends scaffold were controlled. We found that these properties are mainly dependent on the PA6/PCL blending viscosity value, and the viscosity of the blending solution has an intense effect on the properties of the blends scaffold. The influence of the scaffolds extraction fluids and the scaffold direct contact of both the metabolic viability and the DNA integrity of EA.hy926 endothelial cells, as well as the cell/scaffold interaction analysis by scanning electron microscope, after different co-culturing intervals, demonstrated that PA6/PCL blend scaffolds showed different behaviors. Blend scaffolds of PA6/PCL of 90:10 ratio proved to be excellent endothelial cell carriers, which provided a good cell morphology, DNA integrity and viability, induced DNA synthesis/replication, and enhanced cell proliferation, attachment, and invasion. These results indicate that blends of PA6/PCL composite fibers are a promising 3D substitute for the next generation of synthetic tissue scaffolds that could soon find clinical applications