Near Complete Recovery of Visual Acuity After Calcium Hydroxylapatite Injection-Related Vision Loss: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Injection of fillers has gained popularity over the past decades in aesthetic treatments. Calcium hydroxylapatite (CaHA; Radiesse) was introduced in the year 2003 and received approval from the Food and Drug Administration in 2006 for the treatment of moderate-to-severe wrinkles. The properties of CaHA include biostimulation, neocollagenesis, and stability over a long period. However, similar to other fillers, CaHA is associated with the risk of complications such as ecchymosis, inflammation, local infection, skin necrosis, and vascular occlusion. Iatrogenic vision loss remains the most devastating complication related to vascular occlusion. Development of vision impairment is associated with a relatively high risk of permanent damage to vision acuity and poor prognosis. The current report presents a case of a patient who suffered from skin necrosis, vision impairment, and ophthalmoplegia after the injection of CaHA into the nasal dorsum. Significant improvement in visual acuity was observed during hospitalization after the treatment. The patient recovered to near-normal visual acuity and completely recovered from ophthalmoplegia. We aimed to discuss the current treatment employed and review the literature on CaHA-related vision loss.

A different diffusion mechanism for drug molecules in amorphous polymers.

Polymer materials are widely used in controlled drug release, and the diffusion property of drug molecules in these materials is of great importance. In this work, the diffusion behavior of a model drug (aspirin) in different ratios of poly(lactic acid-co-ethylene glycol) (PLA-PEG) was investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. Two major factors, which influence the diffusion of aspirin in polymer matrix: the wriggling of the polymer chain and the free volume of the polymer matrix, are discussed. The wriggling of the polymer chain mainly controls the diffusion of aspirin molecules. Free volume becomes the secondary effect. For two different polymers having a similar degree of wriggling, the free volume controls the diffusion of the aspirin molecules. Comparing with the diffusion behavior of small gas molecules in polymer matrix, a different mechanism was proposed for the drug molecules. The drug molecules can only diffuse along with the wriggling of the polymer matrix.

Diameter selectivity of protein encapsulation in carbon nanotubes.

Biomolecular-carbon nanotube (CNT) complexes are of great importance in biological and biomedical devices, and recently spontaneous encapsulation of biomolecules into CNTs has attracted great interest. In this work, we explored the diameter selectivity of the protein encapsulation in CNTs via molecular dynamics simulations, and the free energy changes of the systems were calculated for mechanism exploration. It is proved that there is an optimal tube size which provides the most effective encapsulation for a given protein molecule, and the encapsulations in the overlarge and overcrowded tubes are hindered by different factors based on the analysis of system energy contribution. In addition, the significance of the solvents for the system is also of concern.

[Effects of monofluorphosphate and alphaD3 on the bone mineral density of mandibular of ovariectomy rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of monofluorphosphate and alphaD3 on the bone mineral density of mandibular of ovariectomy rats. METHODS: 39 female Sprague-Dawley rats about 90 days of age were randomly divided into the following treatment groups and treated for 12 weeks: SHAM group, OVX group, MFP group, MFP+alphaD3 group. Rats of MFP group received monofluorphosphate by gastric feeding. Rats of MFP+alphaD3 group received monofluorphosphate and alphatD3 by gastric feeding. The femur and the mandibles were collected for histomorphometry and bone mineral density measurement. RESULTS: The bone area, bone thick, and bone mineral density of femur in the OVX group were significantly lower than those of other groups, while the trabecular separation of the OVX group was significantly higher than that of other groups. The bone mineral density of mandible was increased in OVX group and MFP+alphaD3 group compared with SHAM group. CONCLUSION: Monofluorphosphate and alphaD3 can obviously increase the mass of mandible. The bone mineral density of femur decreased after ovariectomy while it increased in mandibular.