4 research outputs found
The Potential Effect of Medicinal Plants for Cartilage Regeneration
Any trauma to a joint such as sports injury can lead to osteoarthritis especially injuries that include torn cartilage, dislocated joints and ligaments. In sports injury specifically, most of the ointments in the market are only applied after physical activity. Repair of the bone and cartilage continues to be a challenge. Autologous and allografts are the gold standard for the treatment of the bone and cartilage. They have an invasive, open surgical procedure that requires the tissue to be harvested from an alternative site within the patient. South Africa is rich in native flora that is currently tapped as medicine by traditional healers. However, little is known about the natural products of our native flora and their potential to serve as a remedy for sports injuries, fracture healing and osteoarthritis. The grand purpose of the project is to explore medicinal plants of South Africa as a potential source for bone and tissue engineering of articular cartilage
Proactive measures to combat a SARS-CoV-2 transmission among high risk patients and health care workers in an outpatient dialysis facility
BACKGROUND: End-stage-renal-failure (ESRF) patients attending clustered out-patient
dialysis are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Comorbidities render them
vulnerable to severe COVID-19. Although preventative and mitigation strategies are
recommended, the effect of these are unknown. A period of “potential-high-infectivity”
results if a health-care-worker (HCWs) or a patient becomes infected.
AIM: We describe and analyze early, universal SARS-CoV-2 real time reverse transcription
polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests, biomarker monitoring and SARS-CoV-2
preventative strategies, in a single dialysis center, after a positive patient was identified.
METHODOLOGY: The setting was a single outpatient dialysis center in Johannesburg, South
Africa which had already implemented preventative strategies. We describe the
management of 57 patients and 11 HCWs, after one of the patients tested positive for
SARS-CoV-2. All individuals were subjected to RT-PCR tests and biomarkers (NeutrophilLymphocyte Ratio, C-reactive protein, and D-Dimer) within 72 h (initial-tests). Individuals
with initial negative RT-PCR and abnormal biomarkers (one or more) were subjected to
repeat RT-PCR and biomarkers (retest subgroup) during the second week. Additional
stringent measures (awareness of viral transmission, dialysis distancing and screening)
were implemented during the period of “potential high infectivity.” The patient retest
subgroup also underwent clustered dialysis until retest results became available RESULTS: A second positive-patient was identified as a result of early universal RT-PCR
tests. In the two positive-patients, biomarker improvement coincided with RT-PCR
negative tests. We identified 13 individuals for retesting. None of these retested
individuals tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 and there was no deterioration in median
biomarker values between initial and retests. Collectively, none of the negative individuals
developed COVID-19 symptoms during the period “potential high infectivity.”
CONCLUSION: A SARS-CoV-2 outbreak may necessitate additional proactive steps to
counteract spread of infection. This includes early universal RT-PCR testing and creating
further awareness of the risk of transmission and modifying preventative strategies.
Abnormal biomarkers may be poorly predictive of SARS-CoV-2 infection in ESRF
patients due to underlying illnesses. Observing dynamic changes in biomarkers in RTPCR positive and negative-patients may provide insights into general state of health.http://frontiersin.org/Pharmacologypm2021School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH
Cross-talk between primary osteocytes and bone marrow macrophages for osteoclastogenesis upon collagen treatment
Homeostasis of osteoclast formation from bone marrow macrophages (BMM) is regulated by paracrine signals of the neighbourhood bone cells particularly mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), osteoblasts and osteocytes (OC). Besides paracrine cues, collagen and glycosaminoglycan are involved in controlling bone homeostasis. Towards this approach, different molecular weight collagens were reacted with MSC, OC and BMM to understand the bone homeostasis activity of collagen. The up-regulating effect of collagens on osteogenic cell growth was confirmed by the presence of mineralized nodules in the osteoblastogenic lineage cells and increased osteogenic stimulatory gene expression. The decreased BMM-derived TRAP+ osteoclasts number and osteoclastogenic regulatory gene expression of OC could demonstrate the exploitive osteoclastogenic activity of collagens. Osteoclastogenesis from BMM was triggered by paracrine cues of OC in some extend, but it was down-regulated by collagen. Overall, the effect of collagen on osteoclastogenesis and osteoblastogenesis may depend on the molecular weight of collagens, and collagen suppresses osteoclastogenesis, at least in part by downregulating the secretion of cytokines in OC