A novel combination treatment to stimulate bone healing and regeneration under hypoxic conditions: photobiomodulation and melatonin.

Melatonin has anabolic effects on the bone, even under hypoxia, and laser irradiation has been shown to improve osteoblastic differentiation. The aim of this study was to investigate whether laser irradiation and melatonin would have synergistic effects on osteoblastic differentiation and mineralization under hypoxic conditions. MC3T3-E1 cells were exposed to 1% oxygen tension for the hypoxia condition. The cells were divided into four groups: G1-osteoblast differentiation medium only (as the hypoxic condition), G2-treatment with 50 µM melatonin only, G3-laser irradiation (808 nm, 80 mW, GaAlAs diode) only, and G4-treatment with 50 µM melatonin and laser irradiation (808 nm, 80 mW, GaAlAs diode). Immunoblotting showed that osterix expression was markedly increased in the melatonin-treated and laser-irradiated cells at 48 and 72 h. In addition, alkaline phosphatase activity significantly increased and continued to rise throughout the experiment. Alizarin Red staining showed markedly increased mineralized nodules as compared with only melatonin-treated or laser-irradiated cells at day 7, which significantly increased by day 14. Moreover, when melatonin-treated cells were laser-irradiated, the differentiation and mineralization of cells were found to involve p38 MAPK and PRKD1 signaling mechanisms. However, the enhanced effects of laser irradiation with melatonin were markedly inhibited when the cells were treated with luzindole, a selective melatonin receptor antagonist. Therefore, we concluded that laser irradiation could promote the effect of melatonin on the differentiation and mineralization of MC3T3-E1 cells under hypoxic conditions, and that this process is mediated through melatonin 1/2 receptors and PKRD/p38 signaling pathways.

A practical comparison of Copper Bromide Laser for the treatment of vascular lesions.

The recent rapid growth in demand for aesthetic non-invasive laser treatments such as unwanted skin rejuvenation, removal of age-related vascular blemishes has led to a boom in the medical devices to treat these conditions. Among diverse laser for skin treatment, copper bromide laser is a very effective, safe, and well tolerated treatment for facial telangiectasia at various energy levels and the most important thing of the copper bromide laser device is that the stability of the energy. However there is no evidence about effective copper bromide laser's energy level for the treatment of vascular lesions. We compared energy stability and treatment performance between two energy levels in 2 W and 8 W which commonly use in laser treatment for the vascular lesions. 8 W copper bromide laser was more stable compared than 2 W copper bromide laser. Also, 8 W copper bromide laser was effectively superior to 2 W copper bromide laser in treatment of vascular legion. Consequently, 8 W copper bromide laser treatment for vascular lesion might be more suitable than 2 W copper bromide laser.

Enhanced solubility and oral absorption of sirolimus using D-α-tocopheryl polyethylene glycol succinate micelles.

The objective of this study was to develop an oral formulation that would improve the solubility and oral absorption of sirolimus using a TPGS micellar solution. The effect of TPGS on the solubility and stability of sirolimus was evaluated. The sirolimus-loaded TPGS micelles were prepared using the thin-film hydration method. The average size of the sirolimus-loaded TPGS micelles was 11 nm. The concentration of sirolimus in a 50 mg/mL TPGS micellar solution was 0.97 ± 0.12 mg/mL, which demonstrates an enhancement of approximately 400-fold from the solubility of sirolimus in water. Furthermore, pharmacokinetic studies in rats indicated that the TPGS micellar solution significantly improved the oral absorption of sirolimus. Therefore, the preliminary results from this study suggest that a TPGS micellar solution has great potential for clinical applications.

Decontamination of uranium-contaminated waste oil using supercritical fluid and nitric acid.

The waste oil used in nuclear fuel processing is contaminated with uranium because of its contact with materials or environments containing uranium. Under current law, waste oil that has been contaminated with uranium is very difficult to dispose of at a radioactive waste disposal site. To dispose of the uranium-contaminated waste oil, the uranium was separated from the contaminated waste oil. Supercritical R-22 is an excellent solvent for extracting clean oil from uranium-contaminated waste oil. The critical temperature of R-22 is 96.15 °C and the critical pressure is 49.9 bar. In this study, a process to remove uranium from the uranium-contaminated waste oil using supercritical R-22 was developed. The waste oil has a small amount of additives containing N, S or P, such as amines, dithiocarbamates and dialkyldithiophosphates. It seems that these organic additives form uranium-combined compounds. For this reason, dissolution of uranium from the uranium-combined compounds using nitric acid was needed. The efficiency of the removal of uranium from the uranium-contaminated waste oil using supercritical R-22 extraction and nitric acid treatment was determined.

Activation of inducible nitric oxide synthase by Euonymus alatus in mouse peritoneal macrophages.

BACKGROUND: Euonymus alatus (EA) has been used for tumor therapy. However, it is still unclear how this herb prevents the diseases in experimental models. Nitric oxide (NO) as a potent macrophage-derived effector molecule against a variety of tumors has received increasing attention. METHODS: Using mouse peritoneal macrophages, we have examined the mechanism by which EA regulates NO production. RESULTS: When EA was used in combination with recombinant interferon-gamma (rIFN-gamma), there was a marked cooperative induction of NO production. However, EA had no effect on NO production by itself. The increased production of NO from rIFN-gamma plus EA-stimulated cells was almost completely inhibited by pre-treatment with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC), an inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB). Furthermore, treatment of peritoneal macrophages with rIFN-gamma plus EA caused a significant increase in tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production. PDTC also decreased the effects of EA on TNF-alpha production significantly. CONCLUSIONS: EA increases the production of NO and TNF-alpha by rIFN-gamma-primed macrophages and suggest that NF-kappaB plays a critical role in mediating these effects of EA.