3D bioprinting of Salvianolic acid B-sodium alginate-gelatin skin scaffolds promotes diabetic wound repair via antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and proangiogenic effects.

In patients with diabetic wounds, wound healing is impaired due to the presence of persistent oxidative stress, an altered inflammatory response, and impaired angiogenesis and epithelization. Salvianolic acid B (SAB), which is derived from the Chinese medicinal plant Salvia miltiorrhiza, has been found to exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and proangiogenic effects. Previous studies have used 3D bioprinting technology incorporating sodium alginate (SA) and gelatin (Gel) as basic biomaterials to successfully produce artificial skin. In the current study, 3D bioprinting technology was used to incorporate SAB into SA-Gel to form a novel SAB-SA-Gel composite porous scaffold. The morphological characteristics, physicochemical characteristics, biocompatibility, and SAB release profile of the SAB-SA-Gel scaffolds were evaluated in vitro. In addition, the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and proangiogenic abilities of the SAB-SA-Gel scaffolds were evaluated in cells and in a rat model. Analysis demonstrated that 1.0 wt% (the percentage of SAB in the total weight of the solution containing SA and Gel) SAB-SA-Gel scaffolds had strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and proangiogenic properties both in cells and in the rat model. The 1.0% SAB-SA-Gel scaffold reduced the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and interluekin-1ß and increased the expression of transforming growth factor-ß. In addition, this scaffold removed excessive reactive oxygen species by increasing the expression of superoxide dismutase, thereby protecting fibroblasts from injury. The scaffold increased the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and platelet/endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1, accelerated granulation tissue regeneration and collagen deposition, and promoted wound healing. These findings suggest that this innovative scaffold may have promise as a simple and efficient approach to managing diabetic wound repair.

Characteristics and Mechanisms of Biosolubilization of Rock Phosphate by Aspergillus japonicus

ABSTRACT Rock phosphate (RP) is traditionally solubilized by chemical process causing high cost and environmental pollution. To reduce process cost and protect environment, RP solubilization by Aspergillus japonicus was studied and its mechanisms were discussed. Results show that A. japonicus could effectively solubilize RP in NBRIP medium. RP solubilization by A. japonicus included direct and indirect actions of the strain on RP. Cells of A. japonicus attached rapidly to RP surface and the RP surface was seriously corroded by the strain. A. japonicus excreted multiple organic acids, and followed by a significant increase of titratable acidity and decrease of pH in the culture. A positive correlation between content of soluble phosphate and quantity of titratable acidity but a negative correlation between content of soluble phosphate and pH were observed. Results of abiotic solubilization of RP using organic and inorganic acids indicated that the release of soluble phosphate was significantly lower than that of inoculated with A. japonicus. Higher release of soluble phosphate and pH reduction achieved when using ammonium nitrogen rather than nitrate nitrogen.

Male breast cancer: A retrospective study comparing survival with female breast cancer.

Male breast cancer is a rare disease. The aim of this study was to compare overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in a group of matched males and females with breast cancer. The clinical data and survival status of 42 operable male breast cancer (MBC) cases treated at the Central Hospital of Tai'an from 1982 to 2006 were collected. Each MBC patient recorded in the database was matched with two female breast cancer (FBC) patients. Matching was conducted based on age, year of diagnosis, stage and pathology. SPSS 16.0 software was used for statistical analysis. The Chi-square test was used for the categorical data, the Kaplan-Meier method was applied to analyze survival and the log-rank test was used to compare curves between the groups. P<0.05 was considered to indicate a statistically significant difference. The 42 MBC patients were matched with 84 FBC patients. The mean age at diagnosis was 58.0±11.3 years for males and 57.1±10.6 years for females, and the median follow-up time was 64 months (range, 5-262 months) for males and 71 months (range, 29-283 months) for females. Significant differences were identified for tumor location, hormone receptor status, adjuvant chemotherapy and hormone therapy between the two groups. Monofactorial analysis demonstrated that tumor size, lymph node status and AJCC stage were prognostic factors in MBC patients. The 5- and 10-year DFS rates were 61.2 and 40.7% for males, and 68.7 and 43.0% for females, respectively. The 5-and 10-year OS rates were 75.3 and 52.3% for males, and 82.9 and 63.2% for females, respectively. In our study, male breast carcinoma patients had a worse prognosis compared to female breast carcinoma patients which may be due to the deficiency of adjuvant chemotherapy and endocrine therapy.