An alginate-Based tube gel delivering 2-deoxy-D-ribose for stimulation of wound healing.

Developing multifunctional wound dressings capable of inducing rapid angiogenesis and with antibacterial activity would be attractive for diabetic and superficial wound healing. Hydrogels delivered from tubes have several desirable features -they are easy to apply, keep the wound moist, reduce the entry of microorganisms and avoid the need for painful dressing removal. Previously we reported that 2 deoxy-D-ribose (2dDR) delivered from a variety of dressings is capable of promoting wound healing by stimulating angiogenesis. Alginate hydrogels are an ideal vehicle to deliver a bioactive agent capable of promoting wound healing. In this study we developed and evaluated a tube hydrogel capable of delivering 2dDR with the aim of achieving a stable, convenient to administer and biologically effective wound treatment. Further, we included the stabilizer 2-phenoxy ethanol which provided antimicrobial activity. We synthesized hydrogels by the Green method, using simple mixing of sodium alginate, propylene glycol, 2-phenoxy ethanol and 2dDR in water. FTIR (Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy) analysis confirmed an absence of undesirable chemical changes in the gel components, and SEM images of the freeze-dried gels showed porous structures. When 2dDR alginate gel (2dDR-SA hydrogel) was placed in PBS at 37°C, almost 92% of 2dDR was released within 7 days. When tested on cultured cells, 2dDR-SA hydrogels did not inhibit metabolic activity or proliferation, achieving up to 90 and 98% of control respectively over 7 days. 2dDR-SA hydrogel also showed anti-bacterial activity against E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and MRSA which was attributable to the stabilizer 2-phenoxy ethanol in the hydrogel. Stimulation of angiogenesis in the chorioallantoic membrane assay by 2dDR-SA hydrogel was found to be significant compared to the blank-SA. Wound healing potential was studied in full-thickness wounds in rats where acceleration of wound healing was seen. H&E staining of the wound tissue showed an enhanced number of blood vessels and re-epithelization, and a reduced number of inflammatory cells in 2dDR-SA treated animals compared to blank-hydrogels while Masson's trichrome staining showed increased collagen deposition. In summary we describe a convenient to apply hydrogel which has promise for use in a range of superficial skin wounds including applications in chronic wound care.

Multi-component T2∗ relaxation modelling in human Achilles tendon: Quantifying chemical shift information in ultra-short echo time imaging.

PURPOSE: To examine multi-component relaxation modelling for quantification of on- and off-resonance relaxation signals in multi-echo ultra-short echo time (UTE) data of human Achilles tendon (AT) and compare bias and dispersion errors of model parameters to that of the bi-component model. THEORY AND METHODS: Multi-component modelling is demonstrated for quantitative multi-echo UTE analysis of AT and supported using a novel method for determining number of MR-visible off-resonance components, UTE data from six healthy volunteers, and analysis of proton NMR measurements from ex vivo bovine AT. Cramer-Rao lower bound expressions are presented for multi- and bi-component models and parameter estimate variances are compared. Bias error in bi-component estimates is characterized numerically. RESULTS: Two off-resonance components were consistently detected in all six volunteers and in bovine AT data. Multi-component model exhibited superior quality of fit, with a marginal increase in estimate variance, when compared to the bi-component model. Bi-component estimates exhibited notable bias particularly in R2,1∗ in the presence of off-resonance components. CONCLUSION: Multi-component modelling more reliably quantifies tendon matrix water components while also providing quantitation of additional non-water matrix constituents. Further work is needed to interpret the origin of the observed off-resonance signals with preliminary assignments made to chemical groups in lipids and proteoglycans.

Exogenous Application of Growth Enhancers Mitigate Water Stress in Wheat by Antioxidant Elevation.

The present study was conducted to investigate the response of two wheat cultivars (AARI-11 and Millat-11) to a foliar application of four growth enhancers which include: {H2O (water), MLE30 (moringa leaf extract), KCl (potassium chloride), and BAP (benzyl-amino purine)}, within the six irrigation water-regimes which are applied at the various critical growth stages such as crown root initiation (CRI), tillering (T), booting (B), and heading (H). Irrigation water-regimes include: CRI+T+B, CRI+T, CRI+B, T+B, T+H, and control (CRI+T+B+H). The growth enhancers i.e., H2O, MLE30 (1:30), KCl (2%), and BAP (50 mg L(-1)) were applied @ 500 L ha(-1) at tillering and heading stages. The results demonstrated some increased quantities of both enzymatic (superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase) and non-enzymatic (ascorbic acid, phenol) antioxidants in leaves of AARI-11 when MLE30 was applied under T+B and T+H irrigation water-regimes. Similar results were also observed in the case of leaf chlorophyll "a" and "b" and K(+) contents in both cultivars under control, T+B and CRI+T+B irrigation water regimes. AARI-11 produced the highest biological and grain yield, due to the application of MLE30 and BAP under control, CRI+T+B, T+B, and T+H irrigation water-regimes. However, KCl lagged behind among the treatments set for both cultivars under all the irrigation water-regimes. Foliar spray of MLE30 remained prominent growth enhancer and stresses mitigating agent under water deficit conditions particularly under T+B and T+H irrigation water-regimes. Moreover, economic analysis indicated that the foliar application of MLE30 is a cost effective and environment friendly strategy for the maximum yield and income.