Homologous platelet gel on radiation-induced dermatitis in a patient receiving head and neck radiotherapy plus cetuximab: A case report.

INTRODUCTION: Acute radiodermatitis is a significant complication of cancer radiotherapy, and platelet-based therapies are emerging as potential new treatments. MAIN SYMPTOMS AND IMPORTANT CLINICAL FINDINGS: In this report, we present the case of a patient with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy combined with the monoclonal antibody cetuximab. After 4 weeks of this treatment, the patient developed cutaneous radiation dermatitis. Despite receiving standard treatment with corticosteroids and emollient cream, the lesion did not improve. MAIN DIAGNOSIS: cutaneous radiation dermatitis on head and neck cancer patient. THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTIONS: Topical application of platelet gel was initiated on the wound. From the second week of radiotherapy to the 4th week, homologous platelet-rich plasma was applied on the dermatitis using a bandage, 4 times a day. OUTCOMES: The topical treatment with homologous platelet gel resulted in complete healing of the radiodermatitis, including restoration of the epidermis, reepithelialization, and reduction in associated pain. CONCLUSION: homologous platelet gel might be an alternative to standard treatment of radiation dermatitis.

Phytoremediated marine sediments as suitable peat-free growing media for production of red robin photinia (Photinia x fraseri).

Sediments dredged by an industrial port, slightly contaminated by heavy metals and petroleoum hydrocarbons, were phytoremediated and used as peat-free growing media for the red robin photinia (Photinia x fraseri L.). Plants were grown on sediment only (S), sediment mixed with composted pruning residues (S + PR), sediment fertilized with controlled release fertilizers (S + F) and peat-based growing media as control (C). Plant elongation and dry weight, leaf contents of chlorophyll, malondialdehyde (MDA), macronutrients and heavy metals were determined at the end of one growing season. Environmental impact related to the use of sediment-based as compared to peat-based growing media was assessed by the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). Sediment-based growing media presented significantly higher bulk density, pH and electrical conductivity values, lower C and N contents, and significantly higher total and available P. Red robin photinia grown on S + F growing media showed morphological and chemical parameters similar to those of control plants (C), whereas plants grown on S and S + PR showed lower growth. Leaf concentration of nutrients and heavy metals varied depending on the considered element and growing media, but were all within the common values for ornamental plants, whereas the highest MDA concentrations were found in plants grown on traditional growing media. The LCA indicated the use of sediments as growing media reduced the C footprint of ornamental plant production and the contribute of growing media to the environmental impact per produced plant. We concluded that sediments phytoremediation and use in plant nursery is a practical alternative re-use option for dredged sediments.

Inside the biochemical pathways of thymidylate synthase perturbed by anticancer drugs: Novel strategies to overcome cancer chemoresistance.

Our current understanding of the mechanisms of action of antitumor agents and the precise mechanisms underlying drug resistance is that these two processes are directly linked. Moreover, it is often possible to delineate chemoresistance mechanisms based on the specific mechanism of action of a given anticancer drug. A more holistic approach to the chemoresistance problem suggests that entire metabolic pathways, rather than single enzyme targets may better explain and educate us about the complexity of the cellular responses upon cytotoxic drug administration. Drugs, which target thymidylate synthase and folate-dependent enzymes, represent an important therapeutic arm in the treatment of various human malignancies. However, prolonged patient treatment often provokes drug resistance phenomena that render the chemotherapeutic treatment highly ineffective. Hence, strategies to overcome drug resistance are primarily designed to achieve either enhanced intracellular drug accumulation, to avoid the upregulation of folate-dependent enzymes, and to circumvent the impairment of DNA repair enzymes which are also responsible for cross-resistance to various anticancer drugs. The current clinical practice based on drug combination therapeutic regimens represents the most effective approach to counteract drug resistance. In the current paper, we review the molecular aspects of the activity of TS-targeting drugs and describe how such mechanisms are related to the emergence of clinical drug resistance. We also discuss the current possibilities to overcome drug resistance by using a molecular mechanistic approach based on medicinal chemistry methods focusing on rational structural modifications of novel antitumor agents. This paper also focuses on the importance of the modulation of metabolic pathways upon drug administration, their analysis and the assessment of their putative roles in the networks involved using a meta-analysis approach. The present review describes the main pathways that are modulated by TS-targeting anticancer drugs starting from the description of the normal functioning of the folate metabolic pathway, through the protein modulation occurring upon drug delivery to cultured tumor cells as well as cancer patients, finally describing how the pathways are modulated by drug resistance development. The data collected are then analyzed using network/netwire connecting methods in order to provide a wider view of the pathways involved and of the importance of such information in identifying additional proteins that could serve as novel druggable targets for efficacious cancer therapy.

Effects of supplementation with different Mg salts in cells: is there a clue?

The differing bioavailability of magnesium salts remains an open question, both at the cellular and systemic level. However, this issue is relevant for identifying the most effective magnesium supplement. We compared the effects of three widely used magnesium salts: MgSO4, MgCl2 and Mg pidolate, on the proliferation of four human cell types: promyelocytic leukaemia HL60, osteoblast-like Saos-2 and U-2 OS, and endothelial cells from the umbilical vein. The three magnesium salts had no effect on endothelial and leukemic cell growth, but magnesium pidolate impaired cell growth in osteoblast-like cells. In particular, in Saos-2 cells, 1 mM pidolate induced a slight accumulation of cells in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle and, in parallel, an early rise in intracellular calcium and a late decrease in intracellular magnesium content. Interestingly, when cultured in 5 mM magnesium pidolate, Saos-2 cells grew as fast as the controls. Moreover, intracellular magnesium and calcium concentrations did not vary. These results suggest a lower bioavailability of magnesium pidolate in osteoblast-like cells.