Mussel-inspired HA@TA-CS/SA biomimetic 3D printed scaffolds with antibacterial activity for bone repair

Bacterial infection is a major challenge that could threaten the patient’s life in repairing bone defects with implant materials. Developing functional scaffolds with an intelligent antibacterial function that can be used for bone repair is very important. We constructed a drug delivery (HA@TA-CS/SA) scaffold with curcumin-loaded dendritic mesoporous organic silica nanoparticles (DMON@Cur) via 3D printing for antibacterial bone repair. Inspired by the adhesion mechanism of mussels, the HA@TA-CS/SA scaffold of hydroxyapatite (HA) and chitosan (CS) is bridged by tannic acid (TA), which in turn binds sodium alginate (SA) using electrostatic interactions. The results showed that the HA@TA-CS/SA composite scaffold had better mechanical properties compared with recent literature data, reaching 68.09 MPa. It displayed excellent degradation and mineralization capabilities with strong biocompatibility in vitro. Furthermore, the antibacterial test results indicated that the curcumin-loaded scaffold inhibited S.aureus and E.coli with 99.99% and 96.56% effectiveness, respectively. These findings show that 3D printed curcumin-loaded HA@TA-CS/SA scaffold has considerable promise for bone tissue engineering

The Role of Mononuclear Phagocytes in the Testes and Epididymis

The mononuclear phagocytic system (MPS) is the primary innate immune cell group in male reproductive tissues, maintaining the balance of pro-inflammatory and immune tolerance. This article aims to outline the role of mononuclear macrophages in the immune balance of the testes and epididymis, and to understand the inner immune regulation mechanism. A review of pertinent publications was performed using the PubMed and Google Scholar databases on all articles published prior to January 2021. Search terms were based on the following keywords: ‘MPS’, ‘mononuclear phagocytes’, ‘testes’, ‘epididymis’, ‘macrophage’, ‘Mφ’, ‘dendritic cell’, ‘DC’, ‘TLR’, ‘immune’, ‘inflammation’, and ‘polarization’. Additionally, reference lists of primary and review articles were reviewed for other publications of relevance. This review concluded that MPS exhibits a precise balance in the male reproductive system. In the testes, MPS cells are mainly suppressed subtypes (M2 and cDC2) under physiological conditions, which maintain the local immune tolerance. Under pathological conditions, MPS cells will transform into M1 and cDC1, producing various cytokines, and will activate T cell specific immunity as defense to foreign pathogens or self-antigens. In the epididymis, MPS cells vary in the different segments, which express immune tolerance in the caput and pro-inflammatory condition in the cauda. Collectively, MPS is the control point for maintaining the immune tolerance of the testes and epididymis as well as for eliminating pathogens

Risk factors for instent restenosis of sirolimus-coated stents in coronary intervention for patients with unstable angina

Abstract To investigate the instent restenosis rate of sirolimus-coated stents in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and risk factors for in-stent restenosis, patients with unstable angina (UA) caused by coronary artery stenosis were enrolled, and all clinical and imaging data were analyzed. Among 143 enrolled patients with UA aged 35–83 (mean 60.9 ± 10.0) years enrolled, there were 114 (79.7%) male and 29 (20.3%) female patients. Arterial stenosis was present in one coronary artery in 6 (4.2%) patients, in two coronary arteries in 20 (14.0%) patients, in three arteries in 116 (81.1%), and in four coronary arteries in 1 (0.7%) patient. Stenting was successfully performed in all (100%) patients, and 181 stents were deployed. The quantitative flow ratio (QFR) was 0.92 ± 0.03 (range 0.84–0.96) immediately after stenting, and the TIMI was grade 3 in all patients. The diameter of the stents deployed ranged 2.25–4 mm (mean 3.04 ± 0.44) with a length ranging 10 mm to 104 mm (mean 32.73 ± 15.5). Follow-up angiography was performed in all patients with a duration of 1–92 (mean 15.0 ± 18.8) months. Instent restenosis ≥ 50% occurred in 25 (17.5%) patients. In univariate logistic regression analysis, significant (P < 0.05) risk factors for instent restenosis ≥ 50% were QFR (OR 0.036, 95% CI 0.13–0.97), stent diameter (OR 0.43, 95% CI 0.18–0.92), hypertension (OR 3.16, 95% CI 1.02–9.82), smoking (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.11–0.89), and neutrophil count (OR 2.22, 95% CI 1.10–5.44). In multivariate analysis, QFR (OR 0.02, 95% CI 0.002–0.19), stent diameter (OR 0.06, 95% CI 0.005–0.59), hypertension (OR 6.75, 95% CI 1.83–35.72) and neutrophil count (OR 276.07, 95% CI 12.32–10,959.95) were significant (P < 0.05) independent risk factors for instent restenosis ≥ 50%. In conclusion, certain instent restenosis rates occurs after the sirolimus-eluted coronary stent deployment for the treatment of coronary artery stenosis in patients with UA, and quantitative flow ratio after stenting, stent diameter, hypertension, and neutrophil count are significant risk factors for instent restenosis of the sirolimus-coated stents in coronary intervention