Drug-Coated Balloon versus Bare Nitinol Stent in Femoropopliteal Artery: 12 Months Outcome from a Single Center in China.

OBJECT: The study sought to compare the safety and effectiveness of drug-coated balloon (DCB) with bare nitinol stent in patients with complex femoropopliteal(FP) lesions in real-world practice. METHODS: Patients with symptomatic (Rutherford stage 2 to 5) femoropopliteal lesions who underwent DCB or bare nitinol stent implantation at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery of China-Japan Friendship Hospital from June 2016 to September 2017 were included. Demographics, angiographic and procedural variables were included. Freedom from target lesion revascularization (TLR), primary patency and major adverse events were obtained from follow-up results at 3,6 and12 months. Descriptive analysis was performed on all variables. RESULTS: A total of 90 eligible patients were enrolled, which included 51 DCB subjects (mean age, 63.1 ± 13.2 years; 76.5% male) with 55 lesions and 39 nitinol stent subjects (mean age, 66.5 ± 10.5 years; 61.5% male) with 42 lesions. Significant higher primary patency was observed in the DCB group compared with the stent group (74.5% vs. 52.4%; log-rank test P = 0.018; HR 0.335, 95%CI 0.124-0.903, P = 0.031). The rates of freedom from TLR (f-TLR) were 78.2% and 59.5% (log-rank test P = 0.032) for the DCB group and the stent group, respectively, at 12 months. CD-TLR rates were 18.2% vs. 38.1% with a P-value of 0.023. Female sex (HR 6.122, 95%CI 1.880-19.934, P = 0.003), lesion length over 20 cm (HR 5.514, 95%CI 2.312-13.148, P < 0.001) and renal insufficiency (HR 2.609, 95%CI 1.087-6.260, P = 0.032) were suggested as independent risk factors of reducing primary patency. There were no significant differences in major adverse events between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: The result above demonstrates that DCB treatment has higher primary patency and lower TLR at 12 months than nitinol stent. These data confirm the safety and effectiveness of the DCB for patients with complex femoropopliteal lesions.

Oral microbial community analysis of the patients in the progression of liver cancer.

Liver disease has been reported to associate with oral microbiota. This study aimed to identify the salivary microbial structure in liver disease patients and determine whether the disease progression influence the bacterial composition. 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatic analysis were used to examine oral bacterial diversity in the different status of hepatitis patients including 6 patients with Hepatitis B (Y), 6 patients with Hepatitis B Cirrhosis (YY) and 6 patients with liver cancer (C), and 6 healthy controls (T). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the genera of Streptococcus, Prevotella, Actinomyces, Veillonella and Neisseria are predominant genus in the saliva of Y, YY, C patients and T group. Lautropia, Abiotrophia and Veillonella were enriched in Y patients, while Treponema, Selenomonas and Oribacterium were also existed in YY patients. Haemophilus, Porphyromonas and Filifactor had high abundance in C patients. The genera of Moryella, Leptotrichia, Lactobacillus, Dialister, Serratia, Enterococcus and Actinobacillus were decreased in all patient samples compared with healthy control samples which may be used for treatment of liver disease. Diversity analyses showed decreased diversity of salivary bacterial communities was discovered in the progress of the liver disease. These findings identified the oral microbiota dysbiosis in liver disease, which may providing available information and possible diagnostic biomarkers for liver patients.

LncRNA LEF1-AS1 promotes osteogenic differentiation of dental pulp stem cells via sponging miR-24-3p.

The role of lncRNA LEF1-AS1 in the regulation of osteogenic differentiation of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) is still obscure. Here, we demonstrated that LncRNA LEF1-AS1 expression was associated with osteogenic differentiation of DPSCs and overexpression of LEF1-AS1 promoted osteogenic differentiation. Moreover, lncRNA LEF1-AS1 and miR-24-3p could directly regulate each other and LEF1-AS1 acted as sponge partner of miR-24-3p. Furthermore, LEF1-AS1 and miR-24-3p synergized to regulate osteogenic differentiation of DPSCs. Finally, we verified TGFBR1 was the direct target of miR-24-3p in osteogenic differentiation of DPSCs and miR-24-3p/LEF1-AS1 sponged to regulate TGFBR1 expression. Our study revealed a novel mechanism about how did lncRNA LEF1-AS1 execute function in osteogenesis of DPSCs and thus might serve as potential therapeutic target for the bone regeneration in the dental pulp.

SENP1/HIF-1α axis works in angiogenesis of human dental pulp stem cells.

Dental diseases seriously affect the quality of life. Studying the mechanism of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) had far-reaching significance for the therapy of dental diseases. In this paper, we studied the small ubiquitin-like modifier-specific protease 1 (SENP1) and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α functions in angiogenesis under anoxic conditions. Flow cytometry was used to identify and sort DPSCs. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were carried out to analyze the expression of von Willebrand factor, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2, vascular endothelial cadherin, and CD31. Besides, si-SENP1 and si-HIF-1- levels were changed by cell transfection. Tube formation ability was carried out by tubulogenesis assay. Furthermore, the levels of HIF-1α and SENP1 were also tested by Western blot. We obtained DPSCs and induced them to differentiate into vessels and form tubules in vitro. On the basis of this, we demonstrated hypoxia enhanced HIF-1α and SENP1 expression. si-HIF-1α downregulated SENP1 expression and angiogenesis ability under hypoxia, and si-SENP1 downregulated HIF-1α expression and angiogenesis ability under hypoxia. Under hypoxia, SENP1 and HIF-1α formed a positive feedback loop and played a momentous part in angiogenesis.

Comparing conventional flap-less immediate implantation and socket-shield technique for esthetic and clinical outcomes: A randomized clinical study.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the esthetic and clinical outcomes of immediate implantation using the conventional flap-less approach and the socket-shield technique (SST). METHODS: This study included 30 adult patients who underwent anterior teeth replacement and fulfilled the pre-defined criteria. Patients were randomly allocated to the SST (n = 15) and conventional flap-less (control, n = 15) groups. The esthetic outcomes were evaluated by assessing the degree of soft-tissue recession and the pink esthetic scores (PESs). Clinical parameters, including the modified plaque index, modified sulcus bleeding index (mSBI), probing depth (PD), and implant stability quotient (ISQ), were assessed. The buccal plate width (BPW) and height (BPH) were also measured. RESULTS: Implantation was clinically successful for all subjects in both groups. With a similar baseline, the SST group exhibited less reduction in the midfacial mucosal margins and the height of the mesial and distal papillae as well as higher BPW and BPH values compared with the control group (p < .001). The ISQ values were 76.01 ± 1.31 for the SST group and 75.56 ± 1.07 for the control group (p > .05), suggesting sufficient initial stability in both groups. At the 24-month follow-up, SST group patients had statistically significant lower values of PD, mSBI, and mPLI compared with the control group. There were no significant differences in the overall and individual PES values for both groups. CONCLUSION: SST may improve functional and esthetic outcomes by maintaining alveolar bone volume and peri-implant tissues. SST seems to be a promising treatment approach for implants in the esthetic zone.

Twins eye study in Tasmania (TEST): rationale and methodology to recruit and examine twins.

Visual impairment is a leading cause of morbidity and poor quality of life in our community. Unravelling the mechanisms underpinning important blinding diseases could allow preventative or curative steps to be implemented. Twin siblings provide a unique opportunity in biology to discover genes associated with numerous eye diseases and ocular biometry. Twins are particularly useful for quantitative trait analysis through genome-wide association and linkage studies. Although many studies involving twins rely on twin registries, we present our approach to the Twins Eye Study in Tasmania to provide insight into possible recruitment strategies, expected participation rates and potential examination strategies that can be considered by other researchers for similar studies. Five separate avenues for cohort recruitment were adopted: (1) piggy-backing existing studies where twins had been recruited, (2) utilizing the national twin registry, (3) word-of-mouth and local media publicity, (4) directly approaching schools, and finally (5) collaborating with other research groups studying twins.

Glutathione-sensitive PEGylated curcumin prodrug nanomicelles: Preparation, characterization, cellular uptake and bioavailability evaluation.

The anti-tumor efficacy of curcumin can be markedly improved by nano-drug self-delivery systems with high drug loading capacity and smart stimulus-triggered drug release in tumor cells. Herein, a type of novel, glutathione (GSH)-responsive, PEGylated prodrug nano-micelles (PPNMs) was prepared by self-assembly of curcumin-s-s-vitamin E/mPEG2k-DSPE mixture. The PPNMs (entrapment efficiency: 96.7%) was acceptably stable in water with a mean particle size of 29.84 nm. Compared with curcumin-loaded mPEG2k-DSPE nano-micelles (CUR-NMs), PPNMs showed a higher drug loading (1.68% vs 27.3%) and remarkably improved the chemical stability of curcumin in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) (pH = 7.4), 10% FBS culture medium, and rat plasma. In vitro release study showed that PPNMs could redox responsively control the release of curcumin from the prodrug. Moreover, PPNMs showed a cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells similar to that of the free curcumin; however, when the HepG2 cells were pretreated with 1 mM GSH, PPNMs displayed a markedly enhanced cytotoxicity and cellular uptake than the free curcumin. After intravenous injection, PPNMs showed an increased half-life in blood circulation (10.6-fold) and bioavailability (107-fold) compared with the free curcumin injection. Altogether, the prodrug nano-micelles represent a promising preparation for sustained and controlled delivery of curcumin with enhanced antitumor activity.

Effect of Heavy Smoking on Dental Implants Placed in Male Patients Posterior Mandibles: A Prospective Clinical Study.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the implant stability and peri-implant tissue response in heavy smokers receiving dental implants due to partially edentulous posterior mandibles. Forty-five ITI Straumann dental implants were placed into the partially edentulous posterior mandibles of 16 heavy smokers and 16 nonsmokers. One implant in each patient was evaluated for implant stability after surgery and before loading, and for the modified plaque index (mPLI), modified sulcus bleeding index (mSBI), probing depth (PD), and marginal bone loss (MBL) after loading. Meanwhile, the osteogenic capability of jaw marrow samples collected from patients was evaluated via an in vitro mineralization test. For both groups, the implant stability quotient (ISQ) initially decreased from the initial ISQ achieved immediately after surgery and then increased starting from 2 weeks postsurgery. However, at 3, 4, 6, and 8 weeks postsurgery, the ISQ differed significantly between nonsmokers and heavy smokers. All implants achieved osseointegration without complications at least by the end of the 12th week postsurgery. At 6 or 12 months postloading, the MBL and PD were significantly higher in heavy smokers than in nonsmokers, whereas the mSBI and mPLI did not differ significantly between the 2 groups. The 1-year cumulative success rate of implants was 100% for both groups. Within the limitations of the present clinical study (such as small sample size and short study duration), which applied the loading at 3 months postoperation, heavy smoking did not affect the cumulative survival rate of dental implants placed at the posterior mandible in male patients, but heavy smoking did negatively affect bone healing around dental implants by decreasing the healing speed. These results implied that it might be of importance to select the right time point to apply the implant loading for heavy smokers. In addition, heavy smoking promoted the loss of marginal bone and the further development of dental pockets. Further clinical studies with larger patient populations are warranted to confirm our findings over a longer study duration.

Comparison of two kinds of nanomedicine for targeted gene therapy: premodified or postmodified gene delivery systems.

BACKGROUND: The applications of ligand-polyethylene glycol (PEG)-modified nanocarriers have now emerged, as well as recognized strategies to provide the vectors with active targeting properties. In this research, premodification and postmodification were compared using the same ligand, ie, a novel conjugated mannan-containing PEG and L-α-phosphatidylethanolamine (PE). METHODS: Premodified and postmodified solid lipid nanoparticles were prepared and the characteristics of the two kinds of vehicles were evaluated. The modified vectors were then administered intravenously to rats and the in vivo targeting behavior of the complexes was investigated in liver macrophages. RESULTS: By carefully formulating the carriers with an optimal ratio of mannan-containing PEG-PE, postmodified vehicles displayed more efficient gene expression in rat Kupffer cells both in vitro and in vivo. CONCLUSION: Postmodified gene carriers are superior to premodified gene vectors, although the latter is also promising for targeted gene delivery. This discovery could guide our future research.