Volume and location of bone regeneration after autologous expanded mesenchymal stromal cells in hip osteonecrosis : a pilot study.

AIMS: Successful cell therapy in hip osteonecrosis (ON) may help to avoid ON progression or total hip arthroplasty (THA), but the achieved bone regeneration is unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate amount and location of bone regeneration obtained after surgical injection of expanded autologous mesenchymal stromal cells from the bone marrow (BM-hMSCs). METHODS: A total of 20 patients with small and medium-size symptomatic stage II femoral head ON treated with 140 million BM-hMSCs through percutaneous forage in the EudraCT 2012-002010-39 clinical trial were retrospectively evaluated through preoperative and postoperative (three and 12 months) MRI. Then, 3D reconstruction of the original lesion and the observed postoperative residual damage after bone regeneration were analyzed and compared per group based on treatment efficacy. RESULTS: The mean preoperative lesion volume was 18.7% (SD 10.2%) of the femoral head. This reduced to 11.6% (SD 7.5%) after three months (p = 0.015) and 3.7% (SD 3%) after one year (p < 0.001). Bone regeneration in healed cases represented a mean 81.2% (SD 13.8%) of the initial lesion volume at one year. Non-healed cases (n = 1 stage progression; n = 3 THAs) still showed bone regeneration but this did not effectively decrease the ON volume. A lesion size under mean 10% (SD 6%) of the femoral head at three months predicted no ON stage progression at one year. Regeneration in the lateral femoral head (C2 under Japanese Investigation Committee (JCI) classification) and in the central and posterior regions of the head was predominant in cases without ON progression. CONCLUSION: Bone regeneration was observed in osteonecrotic femoral heads three months after expanded autologous BM-hMSC injection, and the volume and location of regeneration indicated the success of the therapy.Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2022;11(12):881-889.

Immune-spaying as an alternative to surgical spaying in Iberian x Duroc females: Effect on the sensory traits and volatile organic compound profile of dry-cured shoulders and dry-cured loins.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of immune-spaying on sensory characteristics and the volatile organic compound (VOC) profile of dry-cured shoulders and loins by comparing Iberian × Duroc surgically spayed females, immune-spayed females and entire females. VOC profile of dry-cured shoulders was not significantly affected by the reproductive status, probably due to the large heterogeneity of dry-cured shoulders as a product. Correspondingly, dry-cured shoulders showed little differences among treatment groups, with better scores for marbling, hardness and chewiness attributes in the immune-spayed females. Dry-cured loin sensory traits such as brightness, marbling, chewiness and juiciness, presented better scores in immune-spayed females. Moreover, dry-cured loins showed a higher homogeneity that allowed the effects of spaying to be observed, thus the Principal Component Analysis performed on VOC profile data indicated a better separation of samples among treatment groups. Consequently, immune-spaying could be a viable alternative to surgical spaying from the point of view of meat quality.

SIFT-MS analysis of Iberian hams from pigs reared under different conditions.

The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of a Selected Ion Flow Tube-Mass Spectrometry (SIFT-MS) equipment to tentatively quantify relevant volatile compounds of dry-cured Iberian ham, and to differentiate Iberian hams from pigs reared at four different conditions yielding different commercial grades. The SIFT-MS analysis allowed the rapid quantification of 39 Iberian ham volatile compounds, 16 of them being significantly affected by the rearing conditions of pigs. The full spectra SIFT-MS data allowed the correct classification of 79.2% of hams according to diet, which is a smaller percentage than that obtained using intramuscular fatty acid data (95.8%) obtained by using a gas chromatograph-flame ionization detector after lipid extraction and transesterification. Therefore, the SIFT-MS analysis would be a rapid tool to tentatively quantify some relevant volatile compounds, and also would provide a rapid but rough classification of Iberian ham according to the rearing conditions of pigs.

Amino acid and nucleotide contents and sensory traits of dry-cured products from pigs with different genotypes.

The free amino acid and nucleotide contents of dry-cured ham, shoulder and loin from two genetic lines selected from pigs according to the paternal allele (homozygous AA and heterozygous AG) of the insulin-like growth factor-II gene were studied by HPLC. Their influence on the flavor and taste characteristics was also studied. The increase of lean content caused by the IGF-II mutation could affect proteolysis during the ripening process and therefore the sensory characteristics. The lower intramuscular fat content in the AA ham batch had a positive effect on the free amino acid content. However, similar flavor traits between ham batches were found, but the AG loin batch showed greater value. The enhancing effect of the IMP on the overall flavor intensity was limited by the amino acid and the IMF contents in dry-cured ham and loin, while in dry-cured shoulder, the IMP could be the reason for the significant differences in after taste and cured flavor scores.

Quality of dry-cured ham compared with quality of dry-cured shoulder.

The physicochemical and sensory properties of 30 dry-cured hams and 30 dry-cured shoulders were analyzed to determine the relationships between them. The variables used to characterize both products were: compositional parameters, instrumental texture, amino acid and fatty acid composition, and sensory profile. Despite being products from the same animal and composed mainly of fat, lean, and bone, their morphological differences determine the conditions of the processing time, which produced differences between products in most of the parameters evaluated. Dry-cured shoulders showed lower moisture content and greater instrumental hardness due to their morphology and muscular structure. Besides, these samples showed lower amino acid content according to the shorter ripening time. For the same reason, the dry-cured hams showed higher moisture content, lower instrumental hardness, and higher amino acid content. However, the differences in the muscular structure did not affect the sensory characteristics, which were more related with some compositional parameters, such as chloride, moisture, and amino acid content and with the length of the curing process.

Study of the volatile compounds and odor-active compounds of dry-cured Iberian ham extracted by SPME.

The volatile compounds and the most odor-active compounds of dry-cured Iberian ham were investigated by extracting them using a solid phase microextraction technique with a 2 cm Carboxen/PDMS/DVB fiber. The detection frequency method was applied to estimate the potential contribution of each compound to the odor of hams. Twenty-one volatile compounds were tentatively identified for the first time in dry-cured ham by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and eight in dry-cured Iberian ham. Gas chromatography-olfactometry allowed the identification for the first time of six compounds not previously reported as odorants of Iberian ham, and also two odorants were newly identified in dry-cured ham. According to the detection frequency method, the most odor active compounds found were 3-methylbutanoic acid (dirty sock-like smelling), hexanal (cut grass-like odor), 3-methylbutanal (sweaty and bitter almond-like odor), 2-methyl-3-furanthiol (toasted nuts-like odor) and 1-octen-3-one (mushroom-like odor).

Effect of IGF-II (insulin-like growth factor-II) genotype on the quality of dry-cured hams and shoulders.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the paternal allele (homozygous AA and heterozygous AG) of the IGF-II gene on the fat content, fatty acid composition and sensory characteristics of dry-cured hams and shoulders. The effects were more evident in the subcutaneous fat thickness than in the intramuscular fat (IMF) content, and in the dry-cured hams rather than the dry-cured shoulders. Subcutaneous fat thickness was significantly higher in AG dry-cured hams and shoulders; however, IMF content was only significantly higher in AG dry-cured hams. These effects produce changes in fatty acid composition and sensory characteristics when comparing both batches of each product, but the behavior differed with the type of product. Sensory characteristics were similar in both batches of dry-cured hams in spite of the differences in IMF content. Nevertheless, AG dry-cured shoulders showed higher scores in most of the attributes evaluated, despite the IMF content being similar between batches.

The effects of two alleles of IGF2 on fat content in pig carcasses and pork.

The different fat infiltration capabilities of two alleles of IGF2 (G3072A) have been investigated in pigs of a Landrace-Large White×Duroc cross. Paternally inherited G allele carrier pigs show an increased content of adipose rich meat cuts such as the lard or the belly and 4mm larger backfat thickness values. Paternally inherited A carrier pigs on the other hand contain larger muscle tissue rich cuts such as the loin, the ham and the tenderloin and have 0.19 units lower feed conversion index. No substantial differences have been found neither in intramuscular fat content in several muscles nor in meat quality in both pig groups. Hams of paternally inherited G carrier pigs are richer in both subcutaneous adipose tissue (23.1 vs 19.1mm backfat thickness) and intermuscular fat content. The suitability and the economics of using any of the two of both genotypes for cured ham production are discussed.