Using honey to heal diabetic foot ulcers

Diabetic ulcers seem to be arrested in the inflammatory/proliferative stage of the healing process, allowing infection and inflammation to preclude healing. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria have become a major cause of infections, including diabetic foot infections. It is proposed here that the modern developments of an ancient and traditional treatment for wounds, dressing them with honey, provide the solution to the problem of getting diabetic ulcers to move on from the arrested state of healing. Honeys selected to have a high level of antibacterial activity have been shown to be very effective against antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria in laboratory and clinical studies. The potent anti-inflammatory action of honey is also likely to play an important part in overcoming the impediment to healing that inflammation causes in diabetic ulcers, as is the antioxidant activity of honey. The action of honey in promotion of tissue regeneration through stimulation of angiogenesis and the growth of fibroblasts and epithelial cells, and its insulin-mimetic effect, would also be of benefit in stimulating the healing of diabetic ulcers. The availability of honey-impregnated dressings which conveniently hold honey in place on ulcers has provided a means of rapidly debriding ulcers and removing the bacterial burden so that good healing rates can be achieved with neuropathic ulcers. With ischemic ulcers, where healing cannot occur because of lack of tissue viability, these honey dressings keep the ulcers clean and prevent infection occurring

Avoiding or Reversing Hartmann’s Procedure Provides Improved Quality of Life After Perforated Diverticulitis

# 2010 The Author(s). This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Introduction The existing literature regarding acute perforated diverticulitis only reports about short-term outcome; longterm following outcomes have not been assessed before. The aim of this study was to assess long-term quality of life (QOL) after emergency surgery for perforated diverticulitis. Patients and Methods Validated QOL questionnaires (EQ-VAS, EQ-5D index, QLQ-C30, and QLQ-CR38) were sent to all eligible patients who had undergone emergency surgery for perforated diverticulitis in five teaching hospitals between 199

Inhibition of N1-Src kinase by a specific SH3 peptide ligand reveals a role for N1-Src in neurite elongation by L1-CAM

In the mammalian brain the ubiquitous tyrosine kinase, C-Src, undergoes splicing to insert short sequences in the SH3 domain to yield N1- and N2-Src. We and others have previously shown that the N-Srcs have altered substrate specificity and kinase activity compared to C-Src. However, the exact functions of the N-Srcs are unknown and it is likely that N-Src signalling events have been misattributed to C-Src because they cannot be distinguished by conventional Src inhibitors that target the kinase domain. By screening a peptide phage display library, we discovered a novel ligand (PDN1) that targets the unique SH3 domain of N1-Src and inhibits N1-Src in cells. In cultured neurons, PDN1 fused to a fluorescent protein inhibited neurite outgrowth, an effect that was mimicked by shRNA targeting the N1-Src microexon. PDN1 also inhibited L1-CAM-dependent neurite elongation in cerebellar granule neurons, a pathway previously shown to be disrupted in Src(−/−) mice. PDN1 therefore represents a novel tool for distinguishing the functions of N1-Src and C-Src in neurons and is a starting point for the development of a small molecule inhibitor of N1-Src

Early changes within the lymphocyte population are associated with the development of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in trauma patients

2016 The Author(s). Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.JM was funded, in part, by the Royal College of Surgeons of England, The Phillip King Charitable Trust Research Fellowship and The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR)

Differential regulation of mRNA stability controls the transient expression of genes encoding Drosophila antimicrobial peptide with distinct immune response characteristics

The tight regulation of transiently expressed antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with a distinct antimicrobial spectrum and different expression kinetics contributes greatly to the properly regulated immune response for resistance to pathogens and for the maintenance of mutualistic microbiota in Drosophila. The important role of differential regulation of AMP expression at the posttranscriptional level needs to be elucidated. It was observed that the highly expressed Cecropin A1 (CecA1) mRNA encoding a broad antimicrobial spectrum AMP against both bacteria and fungi decayed more quickly than did the moderately expressed Diptericin mRNA encoding AMP against Gram negative bacteria. The mRNA stability of AMPs is differentially regulated and is attributed to the specific interaction between cis-acting ARE in 3′-UTR of AMP mRNA and the RNA destabilizing protein transactor Tis11 as shown in co-immunoprecipitation of the Tis11 RNP complex with CecA1 mRNA but not other AMP mRNA. The p38MAPK was further demonstrated to play a crucial role in stabilizing ARE-bearing mRNAs by inhibiting Tis11-mediated degradation in LPS induced AMP expression. This evidence suggests an evolutionarily conserved and functionally important molecular basis for and effective approach to exact control of AMP gene expression. These mechanisms thereby orchestrate a well balanced and dynamic antimicrobial spectrum of innate immunity to resist infection and maintain resident microbiota properly

Neural processes mediating contextual influences on human choice behaviour

Contextual influences on choice are ubiquitous in ecological settings. Current evidence suggests that subjective values are normalized with respect to the distribution of potentially available rewards. However, how this context-sensitivity is realised in the brain remains unknown. To address this, here we examine functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data during performance of a gambling task where blocks comprise values drawn from one of two different, but partially overlapping, reward distributions or contexts. At the beginning of each block (when information about context is provided), hippocampus is activated and this response is enhanced when contextual influence on choice increases. In addition, response to value in ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra (VTA/SN) shows context-sensitivity, an effect enhanced with an increased contextual influence on choice. Finally, greater response in hippocampus at block start is associated with enhanced context sensitivity in VTA/SN. These findings suggest that context-sensitive choice is driven by a brain circuit involving hippocampus and dopaminergic midbrain

Toxicogenomic Analysis Suggests Chemical-Induced Sexual Dimorphism in the Expression of Metabolic Genes in Zebrafish Liver

10.1371/journal.pone.0051971PLoS ONE712

Neighborhood and weight-related health behaviors in the Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous studies have shown that neighborhood factors are associated with obesity, but few studies have evaluated the association with weight control behaviors. This study aims to conduct a multi-level analysis to examine the relationship between neighborhood SES and weight-related health behaviors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this ancillary study to Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) a trial of long-term weight loss among individuals with type 2 diabetes, individual-level data on 1219 participants from 4 clinic sites at baseline were linked to neighborhood-level data at the tract level from the 2000 US Census and other databases. Neighborhood variables included SES (% living below the federal poverty level) and the availability of food stores, convenience stores, and restaurants. Dependent variables included BMI, eating patterns, weight control behaviors and resource use related to food and physical activity. Multi-level models were used to account for individual-level SES and potential confounders.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The availability of restaurants was related to several eating and weight control behaviors. Compared to their counterparts in neighborhoods with fewer restaurants, participants in neighborhoods with more restaurants were more likely to eat breakfast (prevalence Ratio [PR] 1.29 95% CI: 1.01-1.62) and lunch (PR = 1.19, 1.04-1.36) at non-fast food restaurants. They were less likely to be attempting weight loss (OR = 0.93, 0.89-0.97) but more likely to engage in weight control behaviors for food and physical activity, respectively, than those who lived in neighborhoods with fewer restaurants. In contrast, neighborhood SES had little association with weight control behaviors.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this selected group of weight loss trial participants, restaurant availability was associated with some weight control practices, but neighborhood SES was not. Future studies should give attention to other populations and to evaluating various aspects of the physical and social environment with weight control practices.</p

Dynamic Accretion Beneath a Slow‐Spreading Ridge Segment: IODP Hole 1473A and the Atlantis Bank Oceanic Core Complex

809 deep IODP Hole U1473A at Atlantis Bank, SWIR, is 2.2 km from 1,508-m Hole 735B and 1.4 from 158-m Hole 1105A. With mapping, it provides the first 3-D view of the upper levels of a 660-km2 lower crustal batholith. It is laterally and vertically zoned, representing a complex interplay of cyclic intrusion, and ongoing deformation, with kilometer-scale upward and lateral migration of interstial melt. Transform wall dives over the gabbro-peridotite contact found only evolved gabbro intruded directly into the mantle near the transform. There was no high-level melt lens, rather the gabbros crystallized at depth, and then emplaced into the zone of diking by diapiric rise of a crystal mush followed by crystal-plastic deformation and faulting. The residues to mass balance the crust to a parent melt composition lie at depth below the center of the massif—likely near the crust-mantle boundary. Thus, basalts erupted to the seafloor from >1,550 mbsf. By contrast, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge lower crust drilled at 23°N and at Atlantis Massif experienced little high-temperature deformation and limited late-stage melt transport. They contain primitive cumulates and represent direct intrusion, storage, and crystallization of parental MORB in thinner crust below the dike-gabbro transition. The strong asymmetric spreading of the SWIR to the south was due to fault capture, with the northern rift valley wall faults cutoff by a detachment fault that extended across most of the zone of intrusion. This caused rapid migration of the plate boundary to the north, while the large majority of the lower crust to spread south unroofing Atlantis Bank and uplifting it into the rift mountains