Delivering mesenchymal stem cells in collagen microsphere carriers to rabbit degenerative disc - Reduced risk of osteophyte formation.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the potential to treat early intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration. However, during intradiscal injection, the vast majority of cells leaked out even in the presence of hydrogel carrier. Recent evidence suggests that annulus puncture is associated with cell leakage and contributes to osteophyte formation, an undesirable side effect. This suggests the significance of developing appropriate carriers for intradiscal delivery of MSCs. We previously developed a collagen microencapsulation platform, which entraps MSCs in a solid microsphere consisting of collagen nanofiber meshwork. These solid yet porous microspheres support MSC attachment, survival, proliferation, migration, differentiation, and matrix remodeling. Here we hypothesize that intradiscal injection of MSCs in collagen microspheres will outperform that of MSCs in saline in terms of better functional outcomes and reduced side effects. Specifically, we induced disc degeneration in rabbits and then intradiscally injected autologous MSCs, either packaged within collagen microspheres or directly suspended in saline, into different disc levels. Functional outcomes including hydration index and disc height were monitored regularly until 6 months. Upon sacrifice, the involved discs were harvested for histological, biochemical, and biomechanical evaluations. MSCs in collagen microspheres showed advantage over MSCs in saline in better maintaining the dynamic mechanical behavior but similar performance in hydration and disc height maintenance and matrix composition. More importantly, upon examination of gross appearance, radiograph, and histology of IVD, delivering MSCs in collagen microspheres significantly reduced the risk of osteophyte formation as compared to that in saline. This work demonstrates the significance of using cell carriers during intradiscal injection of MSCs in treating disc degeneration.published_or_final_versio

Prevalence and trend of hepatitis C virus infection among blood donors in Chinese mainland: a systematic review and meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Blood transfusion is one of the most common transmission pathways of hepatitis C virus (HCV). This paper aims to provide a comprehensive and reliable tabulation of available data on the epidemiological characteristics and risk factors for HCV infection among blood donors in Chinese mainland, so as to help make prevention strategies and guide further research.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic review was constructed based on the computerized literature database. Infection rates and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using the approximate normal distribution model. Odds ratios and 95% CI were calculated by fixed or random effects models. Data manipulation and statistical analyses were performed using STATA 10.0 and ArcGIS 9.3 was used for map construction.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two hundred and sixty-five studies met our inclusion criteria. The pooled prevalence of HCV infection among blood donors in Chinese mainland was 8.68% (95% CI: 8.01%-9.39%), and the epidemic was severer in North and Central China, especially in Henan and Hebei. While a significant lower rate was found in Yunnan. Notably, before 1998 the pooled prevalence of HCV infection was 12.87% (95%CI: 11.25%-14.56%) among blood donors, but decreased to 1.71% (95%CI: 1.43%-1.99%) after 1998. No significant difference was found in HCV infection rates between male and female blood donors, or among different blood type donors. The prevalence of HCV infection was found to increase with age. During 1994-1995, the prevalence rate reached the highest with a percentage of 15.78% (95%CI: 12.21%-19.75%), and showed a decreasing trend in the following years. A significant difference was found among groups with different blood donation types, Plasma donors had a relatively higher prevalence than whole blood donors of HCV infection (33.95% <it>vs </it>7.9%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The prevalence of HCV infection has rapidly decreased since 1998 and kept a low level in recent years, but some provinces showed relatively higher prevalence than the general population. It is urgent to make efficient measures to prevent HCV secondary transmission and control chronic progress, and the key to reduce the HCV incidence among blood donors is to encourage true voluntary blood donors, strictly implement blood donation law, and avoid cross-infection.</p

Matched-pair analysis of survival in the patients with T3 laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma treated with supracricoid partial laryngectomy or total laryngectomy

Xin Xia,1,* Ying-Ying Zhu,1,* Wen-Wen Diao,1 Xiao-Li Zhu,1 Xiao-Hua Shi,2 Wu-Yi Li,1 Zhi-Qiang Gao,1 Guo-Jun Li,1 Xing-Ming Chen1 1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China; 2Department of Pathology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: The survival outcomes between supracricoid partial laryngectomy (SCPL) and total laryngectomy (TL) were compared in the groups of matched-pair patients with T3 laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC).Methods: Patients with T3 LSCC were matched based on prognostic factors. The Kaplan&ndash;Meier curve and the Cox proportional hazards model were used for analysis on survival.Results: A total of 212 patients with T3 LSCC were included after matching (106 underwent SCPL and 106 underwent TL). Multivariable analysis showed no differences in overall survival (hazard risk [HR]=1.15; 95% CI: 0.79&ndash;1.67; P=0.47), disease-specific survival (HR=1.11; 95% CI: 0.69&ndash;1.80; P=0.66), and recurrence-free survival (HR=1.07; 95% CI: 0.68&ndash;1.68; P=0.77) between the SCPL group and TL group.Conclusion: SCPL provides reliable therapeutic outcomes and can be used to avoid a TL surgery in some patients with advanced primary laryngeal cancer. Keywords: survival analysis, matched-pair analysis, laryngeal neoplasms, laryngectomy, squamous cell carcinom

Observation of perfect diamagnetism and interfacial effect on the electronic structures in infinite layer Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO2 superconductors

10.1038/s41467-022-28390-wNATURE COMMUNICATIONS13