The enrichment of whey protein isolate hydrogels with poly-γ-glutamic acid promotes the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of preosteoblasts

© 2023 The authors. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.3390/gels10010018Osseous disease accounts for over half of chronic pathologies, but there is a limited supply of autografts, the gold standard; hence, there is a demand for new synthetic biomaterials. Herein, we present the use of a promising, new dairy-derived biomaterial: whey protein isolate (WPI) in the form of hydrogels, modified with the addition of different concentrations of the biotechnologically produced protein-like polymeric substance poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) as a potential scaffold for tissue regeneration. Raman spectroscopic analysis demonstrated the successful creation of WPI-γ-PGA hydrogels. A cytotoxicity assessment using preosteoblastic cells demonstrated that the hydrogels were noncytotoxic and supported cell proliferation from day 3 to 14. All γ-PGA-containing scaffold compositions strongly promoted cell attachment and the formation of dense interconnected cell layers. Cell viability was significantly increased on γ-PGA-containing scaffolds on day 14 compared to WPI control scaffolds. Significantly, the cells showed markers of osteogenic differentiation; they synthesised increasing amounts of collagen over time, and cells showed significantly enhanced alkaline phosphatase activity at day 7 and higher levels of calcium for matrix mineralization at days 14 and 21 on the γ-PGA-containing scaffolds. These results demonstrated the potential of WPI-γ-PGA hydrogels as scaffolds for bone regeneration.Molecular graphics and analyses were performed with UCSF Chimera, developed by the Resource for Biocomputing, Visualization, and Informatics at the University of California, San Francisco, with support from NIH P41-GM103311.Published onlin

Familial renal retroperitoneal lymphangiomatosis: personal experience and review of literature

Lymphangiomatosis of the kidneys and perirenal-retroperitoneal tissues is a rare disease of unknown etiology. We present two cases affecting members of the same family, supporting the familial nature of the disease. The natural history and related urological and systematic complications of the disease during a long-term follow-up are highlighted, while a comprehensive literature review is presented

FAMILIAL RENAL RETROPERITONEAL LYMPHANGIOMATOSIS PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AND REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Lymphangiomatosis of the kidneys and perirenal-retroperitoneal tissues is a rare disease of unknown etiology We present two cases affecting members of the same family, supporting the familial nature of the disease The natural history and related urological and systematic complications of the disease during a long-term follow-up are highlighted, while a comprehensive literature review is presente

A direct method to quantify methanol-soluble organic carbon for brown carbon absorption studies

The current research provides a newly developed method to quantify methanol-soluble organic carbon (MeS_OC) in aerosol samples. This analytical procedure allows an accurate separation of MeS-OC component, which is critical for the calculation of mass absorption efficiency (MAE) of ambient Brown Carbon (BrC) and consequently its climate relevant potential. The method includes extraction, filtering and condensation stages, leading to the preparation of a highly concentrated product in which MeS-OC can be precisely quantified by a Sunset Carbon Analyzer in a single analysis step. This method can be applied on aerosol collected using either high or low volume samplers, since a relatively small filter area is required for the determination. Furthermore, it eliminates any misestimation of the MeS-OC mass that may appear in other reported techniques that don't seem to include the precise separation of methanol-soluble fraction in their quantification process. • The mass quantification of methanol-soluble organic carbon is essential, contributing up to 50% to the absorptivity of organic aerosol (BrC) at shorter wavelengths. • The method provides a direct measurement of methanol-soluble aerosol components, resolving any potential uncertainties of previously applied methods. • The adoption of this direct quantification approach leads to a rationalization of past MAE estimates for BrC with implications for radiative transfer models

Epidemiology and diagnosis of pulmonary embolism in lung cancer patients: is there a role for age adjusted D-dimers cutoff?

Our knowledge about the incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE) and the performance of age adjusted D-dimers (Dd) cutoff amongst patients with lung cancer (LC) and suspected PE, remains limited. We retrospectively analyzed all clinically suspected patients who underwent computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) in a tertiary hospital during a 19 month period. Cancer diagnosis was established using ICD10 code. Eligible for Dd analysis were those tested up to 24 h prior to the scan. We analyzed 2549 patients (54.6% males, median age 68.8 years, IQR 57–78), 15.8% had active LC and 5.4% other cancers (oC), while 70% were scanned in the Emergency Department (ED) and the rest during hospitalization. Overall incidence of PE was 16%. LC, but not oC, increased significantly the risk for PE (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.21–2.06). LC patients were less likely to have bilateral (aOR 0.16, 95% CI 0.07–0.4) or central PE (aOR 0.2, 95% CI 0.09–0.48). Amongst those diagnosed with PE in the ED, LC increased all-cause inhospital mortality (aOR 6.7, 95% CI 2.64–16.95). When age adjusted instead of conventional Dd cutoff was used for ruling out PE in the ED, specificity for LC patients increased (10.16% vs 3.91%) without false negative tests (negative likelihood ratio—NLR = 0). A higher cutoff of 1.13 mg/l raised specificity to 28.9%, with only one case missed (sensitivity: 97.4%, NLR: 0.09, 95% CI 0.01–0.64). LC increases the risk for PE and adversely affects prognosis. Age adjusted and probably an even higher, “LC adjusted” Dd cutoff, could increase the specificity of the test without compromising its sensitivity. © 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

Systemic Inflammatory Response to Renal Artery Percutaneous Angioplasty with Stent Placement and the Risk for Restenosis: A Pilot Study

Purpose: Time changes in plasma concentrations of six different cytokines were investigated to evaluate the inflammatory response to renal artery stent placement. Materials and Methods: A total of 22 patients (17 men; mean age, 66 years ± 13) with ostial renal artery stenosis and poorly controlled hypertension treated with stent placement were studied. Blood samples were collected at baseline and at 24 hours and 6 months after the intervention. Plasma concentrations of (i) tumor necrosis factor-α, (ii) interleukin-6 (IL-6), (iii) monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, (iv) intercellular adhesion molecule-1, (v) vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, and (vi) regulated upon activatin normal T-cell expressed presumed secreted were measured. Restenosis diagnosed with imaging follow-up at 6 months was recorded. Plasma concentrations of the aforementioned cytokines were compared between patients with and without restenosis. Results: IL-6 concentration increased significantly 24 hours after stent placement (8.3 pg/mL ± 1.24 vs. 2.76 pg/mL ± 1.27 at baseline) and returned to baseline levels (2.6 pg/mL ± 1.77) at 6-month follow-up (P < .0001). No significant changes occurred in the concentrations of any other cytokines at the three time points. Baseline and 6-month concentrations of IL-6 were significantly higher in patients with restenosis than in those without restenosis (8.13 pg/mL ± 4 vs 0.75 pg/mL ± 0.47 [P < .005] and 9.55 pg/mL ± 6.5 vs 0.42 pg/mL ± 0.35 [P < .02], respectively). Conclusions: Renal artery angioplasty with stent placement induces an inflammatory response, as evidenced by increased IL-6 production. Additionally, IL-6 seems to identify patients prone to develop restenosis; therefore, it might be used as an early predictor of restenosis after renal angioplasty with stent placement. However, larger studies are required to confirm IL-6 as a potential predictor of restenosis. © 2009 SIR

The Enrichment of Whey Protein Isolate Hydrogels with Poly-γ-Glutamic Acid Promotes the Proliferation and Osteogenic Differentiation of Preosteoblasts

Osseous disease accounts for over half of chronic pathologies, but there is a limited supply of autografts, the gold standard; hence, there is a demand for new synthetic biomaterials. Herein, we present the use of a promising, new dairy-derived biomaterial: whey protein isolate (WPI) in the form of hydrogels, modified with the addition of different concentrations of the biotechnologically produced protein-like polymeric substance poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) as a potential scaffold for tissue regeneration. Raman spectroscopic analysis demonstrated the successful creation of WPI-γ-PGA hydrogels. A cytotoxicity assessment using preosteoblastic cells demonstrated that the hydrogels were noncytotoxic and supported cell proliferation from day 3 to 14. All γ-PGA-containing scaffold compositions strongly promoted cell attachment and the formation of dense interconnected cell layers. Cell viability was significantly increased on γ-PGA-containing scaffolds on day 14 compared to WPI control scaffolds. Significantly, the cells showed markers of osteogenic differentiation; they synthesised increasing amounts of collagen over time, and cells showed significantly enhanced alkaline phosphatase activity at day 7 and higher levels of calcium for matrix mineralization at days 14 and 21 on the γ-PGA-containing scaffolds. These results demonstrated the potential of WPI-γ-PGA hydrogels as scaffolds for bone regeneration