Cell-free fat extract regulates oxidative stress and alleviates Th2-mediated inflammation in atopic dermatitis.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease that significantly affects patients' quality of life. This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic potential of cell-free fat extract (FE) in AD. In this study, the therapeutic effect of DNCB-induced AD mouse models was investigated. Dermatitis scores and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) were recorded to evaluate the severity of dermatitis. Histological analysis and cytokines measurement were conducted to assess the therapeutic effect. Additionally, the ability of FE to protect cells from ROS-induced damage and its ROS scavenging capacity both in vitro and in vivo were investigated. Furthermore, we performed Th1/2 cell differentiation with and without FE to elucidate the underlying therapeutic mechanism. FE reduced apoptosis and cell death of HaCat cells exposed to oxidative stress. Moreover, FE exhibited concentration-dependent antioxidant activity and scavenged ROS both in vitro and vivo. Treatment with FE alleviated AD symptoms in mice, as evidenced by improved TEWL, restored epidermis thickness, reduced mast cell infiltration, decreased DNA oxidative damage and lower inflammatory cytokines like IFN-γ, IL-4, and IL-13. FE also inhibited the differentiation of Th2 cells in vitro. Our findings indicate that FE regulates oxidative stress and mitigates Th2-mediated inflammation in atopic dermatitis by inhibiting Th2 cell differentiation, suggesting that FE has the potential as a future treatment option for AD.

A worldwide bibliometric analysis of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors from 2000 to 2022.

Background: Currently, malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNST) are the subject of intense research interest. However, bibliometric studies have not been conducted in this field. The purpose of the study was to identify historical trends and presents a bibliometric analysis of the MPNST literature from 2000 to 2022. Methods: For the bibliometric analysis, publications were retrieved from the Web of Science database based on the following search terms: [TI = (MPNST) OR TI= (malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors) AND PY = (2000-2022)]. The following information was collected for each document: the publication trends and geographical distribution, important authors and collaboration, keyword distribution and evaluation, most popular journals, and most influential articles. Results: We included 1400 documents for bibliometric analysis, covering five categories: 824 articles, 17 proceedings papers, 68 letters, 402 meeting abstracts, and 89 reviews. Corrections, editorials, book chapters, data papers, publications with expressed concerns, and retractions were excluded from our research. Conclusion: Since 2000, the number of publications on MPNST has continuously increased. Among all countries that contributed to the MPNST research, the USA, Japan, and China were the three most productive countries. The journal Modern Pathology has the most publications on MPNST, while those in the Cancer Research journal were the most frequently cited. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center may be a good partner to collaborate with. Recent research trends in MPNST have focused on tumorigenesis, clinical management, and predictive biomarkers.

How to Distinguish Solitary Neurofibroma From Neurofibromatosis Type 1.

ABSTRACT: Neurofibroma is a benign tumor originating from Schwann cells. It is diagnosed as a symptom of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) or solitary neurofibroma. Neurofibromatosis type 1 belongs to a class of hereditary diseases, whereas solitary neurofibroma is not. Presence of germline NF1 gene mutations can be used to distinguish the 2 conditions. However, due to false negative results in gene tests, NF1 may be misdiagnosed as solitary neurofibroma. This calls for development of more accurate diagnostic methods. The authors report 2 patients with neurofibroma who required surgery and fertility consulting. using primary cell culture and next-generation sequencing experiments, the authors found NF1 mutation in neurofibroma Schwann cells. But this mutation was not exit in peripheral blood, hence demonstrate this NF1 mutation was somatic rather than germline. These results confirmed the diagnosis of solitary neurofibroma rather than NF1. The presented method is, therefore, suitable for fertility consultation and diagnosis of solitary neurofibroma patient.

2-methoxyestradiol inhibits melanoma cell growth by activating adaptive immunity.

Background: The overall survival of melanoma patients remains poor despite advancements in surgical treatment and targeted therapies. Therefore, there is a need to develop new therapeutic strategies for melanoma. 2-methoxyestradiol (2-ME) is a major metabolite of estrogen that has been shown to have anti-tumor effects against many malignancies. However, the effects and mechanisms of action of 2-ME against melanoma remain unclear.Materials and methods: Melanoma cells (B16) were treated with 2-ME in vitro. Cell proliferation was detected by CCK8 and clone formation, transwell was carried out to measure the migration of B16 cells with or without 2-ME. Flow cytometry was performed to measure the apoptosis and cell cycle. C57BL/6 mice were used for tumor-bearing of B16 cells, tumor volumes were measured once a day, and sacrificed after it was over 2000 mm3, then immunofluorescence was implemented to examine the marker of CD3, CD8 and PD-L1.Results: In our study, we found that 2-ME significantly affected the proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and cell cycle of melanoma in vitro. Our results also showed that 2-ME had strong anti-tumor effects against melanoma in vivo and increased the infiltration of tumor-specific cytotoxic lymphocytes CD8+ T cells in the tumor microenvironment. Besides, PD-L1 expression in tumor cells was significantly higher in the 2-ME-treated group than in the control group, indicating that 2-ME could exhibit stronger anti-tumor effects against melanoma if combined with PD-1 blockade therapy.Conclusion: 2-ME suppresses melanoma in vivo and in vitro and is a promising synergistic enhancer of PD-1 blockade immunotherapy.

Fulvic acid degradation in Fenton-like system with bimetallic magnetic carbon aerogel Cu-Fe@CS as catalyst: Response surface optimization, kinetic and mechanism.

In this study, Cu-Fe bimetallic magnetic chitosan carbon aerogel catalyst (Cu-Fe@CS) was prepared by the sol-gel method to degrade Fulvic acid (FA) in Fenton-like system. Degradation experiment results showed bimetallic catalyst Cu-Fe@CS can degrade more FA than monometallic catalysts (Cu@CS and Fe@CS) due to the synergistic effect between the copper and iron. Plackett Buiman (PB) design showed that pH and temperature exhibited significant influence on FA degradation. The significant factors were optimized by Central Composite Design (CCD), the results revealed that the maximum FA removal reached 96.59% under the conditions of pH 4.07 and temperature 93.77 °C, the corresponding TOC removal reached 77.7%. The kinetic analysis implied that the reaction followed pseudo-first order kinetic with correlation coefficient (R2) = 0.9939. The Arrhenius fitting analysis revealed that Cu-Fe@CS had a lower activation energy (Ea) than Cu@CS and Fe@CS, meaning that reaction was easier to occur in Fenten-like system with Cu-Fe@CS. Catalyst still remained the higher FA and TOC removals of 96.28% and 77.33% after six runs, respectively. The FA removal was reduced by 65.53% with 12 mmol tertiary butanol (TBA) as scavenger, indicating that •OH played an important role in FA degradation. Finally, the catalytic degradation mechanism was proposed.

Optimization of heterogeneous Fenton-like process with Cu-Fe@CTS as catalyst for degradation of organic matter in leachate concentrate and degradation mechanism research.

The heterogeneous Fenton-like process with bimetallic chelated magnetic chitosan aerogel (Cu-Fe@CTS) as catalyst was applied to treat pre-coagulated leachate nanofiltration concentrate. The process conditions were optimized by Box-Behnken Design (BBD) and the maximum UV254 removal reached 96.06% under the conditions of temperature 87.62 °C, oxidant dosage 0.2395 mol/L and catalyst dosage 1 g/L. The TOC concentration was reduced from 847.5 to 99.7 mg/L and COD concentration was reduced from 1625 to 464 mg/L. The three-dimensional (3D) fluorescence analysis showed that most of Fulvic acid-like (FA-like) was removed. The adsorption experiment showed that the catalyst reached the adsorption balanced after 60 min and the corresponding FA adsorption removal reached 14.1%. The addition of Tert-butanol (TBA) reduced the FA removal by 59.4%, indicating that the hydroxyl radicals (OH) was the main active species. Experiments of the OH capture at different pH showed that the Fenton-like system produced more OH at pH of 4, at which the maximum FA removal was 96.61%, while the FA removal still reached 94.26% at pH of 7. The OH capture at different temperature showed that the Fenton-like system produced more OH at 90 °C. KI and TBA shielding experiments showed that OH was produced on the catalyst surface rather than being produced by catalysis of free metal ions in the solution.

Optimization of catalytic wet oxidating fulvic acid with zero-valent copper chitosan activated carbon ball as the catalyst.

The degradation efficiency of fulvic acid (FA) was investigated in the catalytic wet oxidation process (CWPO) by zero-valent copper chitosan activated carbon ball (ZVC/CTS-ACB). Characterization of ZVC/CTS-ACB shows that zero-valent copper was loaded successfully on the chitosan activated carbon. Plackett-Buiman (PB) design and response surface methodology (RSM) were employed to determine the influence factors and the optimum processing parameters. The model was well fitted to the actual data and the correlation coefficients of R2 and R2-adj were 0.9359 and 0.9039, respectively. Under the obtained optimum conditions for FA degradation: temperature = 94 °C and pH 3.8, the average FA removal by three replicate experiments was 93.02%, which has a high consistency to the RSM optimal target response of 93.86%. The comparison of catalytic performance showed that the addition of catalyst ZVC/CTS-ACS could increase the removal rate of FA, color number (CN) and TOC by 93.6%, 83.5% and 81.9% respectively. The high TOC removal rate indicated the good performance of the catalyst to FA mineralization. Additionally, the ICP analysis of copper ion leaching was only 0.08 mg/l after 5 repeated recycles of the catalyst, demonstrating the high stability of ZVC/CTS-ACB that is beneficial for the actual application.

A novel CPC composite cement reinforced by dopamine coated SCPP fibers with improved physicochemical and biological properties.

Traditional CPC cements have attracted wide attentions in repairing bone defects for injectability, easy plasticity and good osseointegration. However, its further application was limited by poor mechanical properties, long setting time and unsatisfactory biocompatibility. To solve these problems, polydopamine (DOPA) coated strontium-doped calcium polyphosphate (SCPP) fibers were added into CPC cements for the first time. A doping amount at fiber weight fraction of 0%, 1%, 2% and 5% was designed to develop a multifunctional composite fitting for bone tissues' regeneration and reconstruction and the optimum amount was selected through subsequent physicochemical and biological characterizations. The results implied DOPA coating successfully formed stable connections between SCPP fibers and CPC matrix, which simultaneously reinforced biomechanical strength and tenacity (5% SCPP/D/CPC samples exhibited more prominent mechanical property than others). In addition, 5% D/SCPP fibers doped composite cements were characterized as markedly-improved cytocompatibility: Sr2+ introduction induced cytoactive and significantly accelerated proliferation, attachment and spreading of osteoblasts. Besides, it also stimulated the secretion of OT, Col-I and ALP from seeded MG63, which was a critical character for further inducing osteogenic process, mineralization and bone tissues formation. The promoted cytocompatibility and improved osteogenesis-related growth factors' secretion could be attributed to constant and controllable release of Sr2+ and this deduction was approved by ICP analysis. In addition, Sr doping made this novel cement had a potential efficacy to inhibit aseptic loosening. In a word, present studies all demonstrated 5% SCPP/D/CPC composites could be a potential candidate material employed in bone regeneration and reconstruction for excellent mechanical property and cytocompatibility.

A promising material for bone repair: PMMA bone cement modified by dopamine-coated strontium-doped calcium polyphosphate particles.

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) bone cement has been widely used in clinics as bone repair materials for its excellent mechanical properties and good injection properties. However, it also has defects such as poor biological performance, high temperature, and the monomer has certain toxicity. Our study tried to modify the PMMA bone cement by doping with various particle weight fractions (5, 10 and 15%) of SCPP particles and polydopamine-coated SCPP particles (D/SCPP) to overcome its clinical application disadvantages. Our study showed that all results of physical properties of samples are in accordance with ISO 5833. The 15% D/SCPP/PMMA composite bone cement had much better biocompatibility compared with pure PMMA bone cement and SCPP/PMMA composite bone cement due to the best cell growth-promoting mineralization deposition on the surface of 15% D/SCPP/PMMA composite bone cements and Sr2+ released from SCPP particles. Our research also revealed that the reaction temperature was found to be reduced with an increase in doped particles after incorporating the particles into composite bone cements. The novel PMMA bone cements modified by D/SCPP particles are promising materials for bone repair.

Novel Three-Dimensional Morphometry to Reassess Orbit Deformities Associated With Orbital-Periorbital Plexiform Neurofibroma.

BACKGROUND: Orbit deformities are usually found in neurofibromatosis type 1 patients, especially those with orbital-periorbital plexiform neurofibroma (OPPN). Unfortunately, current morphometry is complicated and, in some cases, cannot be performed on the deformed orbit due to the destruction of landmarks. Herein, we present a novel 3-dimensional (3D) morphometry for these orbital measurements. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 29 patients with OPPN, and another 29 disseminated cutaneous neurofibroma patients served as controls. All patients had undergone craniofacial computed tomography and 3D reconstruction. New morphometry was used to measure the area of the orbital rim (OR) and superior orbital fissure (SOF). RESULTS: For the 29 patients with OPPN, the area of the OR at the affected side was 14.18 ±â€Š3.50 cm, while the OR at the nonaffected side was 12.32 ±â€Š1.38 cm. In addition, the area of the SOF at the affected side was 5.37 ±â€Š5.75 cm, while that at the nonaffected side was 1.27 ±â€Š1.03 cm. The OR and SOF at the affected side are more likely to become enlarged compared with those at the nonaffected side. Among the 29 patients with OPPN, the novel morphometry could be performed in 19 cases (65.5%) that cannot be measured by previous morphometry. CONCLUSION: The novel morphometry is convenient and reproducible, which optimizes its application in pathologic cases, especially those involving deformed orbits.

Long-Term Results for a One-Stage Surgery Technique for Patients With Craniofacial Plexiform Neurofibroma.

BACKGROUND: Neurofibromatosis (NF) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder, and NF type 1 (NF1) is one of the most common forms. Plexiform neurofibroma (PNF) is one of the characteristic expressions of NF1. The proper treatment for patients with craniofacial PNF is surgery. The evaluation methods for the surgical outcome of these patients are still controversial. As a consequence, a one-stage surgical technique and an appropriate evaluation method for patients with craniofacial PNF were discussed in this article. METHODS: This research is a retrospective study. Nine patients with craniofacial PNF were included in this study. They had undergone a one-stage surgical technique of tumor debulking and nasolabial fold reconstruction. Three methods had been applied to evaluate the surgical outcome. RESULTS: Significant improvement was observed in 8 patients. Eight patients were assessed by the relatively objective evaluation method. Obvious symmetry improvement was calculated using Mimics software in 7 patients. CONCLUSION: The surgical technique could achieve good surgical outcomes in both functional and cosmetic terms. Additionally, the relatively objective evaluation technique based on Mimics software could be a more convincing method for evaluating the surgical outcomes of craniofacial patients with PNF.

A promising wound dressing material with excellent cytocompatibility and proangiogenesis action for wound healing: Strontium loaded Silk fibroin/Sodium alginate (SF/SA) blend films.

Effectively stimulating angiogenesis is great challenge in wound care management. It's necessary to develop a new wound dressing with angiogenic capacity. Therefore, strontium loaded SF/SA blend films were prepared as a potential wound dressing material, and their physicochemical and bioactive properties were evaluated. The strontium loaded SF/SA blend films (especially the strontium loaded SF/SA blend films prepared by treating with 5mg/ml Sir solution) could meet the needs of a wound dressing such as water absorption, water vapor transmission rate, mechanical properties and fibroblasts-cytocompatibility. What's more, these films had a potential to induce angiogenesis by improving vascular VEGF and bFGF protein secretion, which was important for wound dressings. Based on the previous studies, we could infer this novel wound dressing possesses the antibacterial activity. The present study suggests that the strontium loaded SF/SA blend film prepared by treating with 5mg/ml Sr solution are a promising biomaterial for wound dressing application.