Comparing the Healing Abilities of Fluorapatite and Hydroxyapatite Ceramics in Regenerating Bone Tissue: An In Vivo Study.

Some reports in the literature show the advantages of fluoride-containing apatite ceramics over hydroxyapatite (HAP), at least in some aspects. While HAP has been used extensively in the treatment of bone defects, fluoridated apatite has hardly been tested in vivo. In order to verify the biological properties of fluoride-doped apatite and to assess its therapeutic potential, we synthesized fluorapatite (FAP) and applied it as a filling in bone defects of experimental animals (rabbits). The treatment effects were evaluated on extracted bones after 3 and 6 months from implantation using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT), dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), radiography (X-ray) and histological staining. The study proved the integration between FAP and the bone tissue, thus indicating its stimulating effect on new bone formation and mineralization. The results achieved after 3 months of treatment were difficult to interpret unequivocally and suggested the transient delay in FAP integration of bone in comparison with HAP. The reasons for this phenomenon are unclear. Most likely, these differences between FAP and HAP resulted mainly from the different porosities, densities and ionic reactivity of the ceramics, which in our opinion affected their solubility, integration and degree of bone tissue resorption. However, it was shown that 6 months after implantation, similar level of bone defect regeneration was achieved for both FAP and HAP. In this article, we present our hypothesis concerning the basis of this phenomenon.

Fluorapatite ceramics for bone tissue regeneration: Synthesis, characterization and assessment of biomedical potential.

Calcium phosphates, due to their similarity to the inorganic fraction of mineralized tissues, are of great importance in treatment of bone defects. In order to improve the biological activity of hydroxyapatite (HAP), its fluoride-substituted modification (FAP) was synthesized using the sol-gel method and calcined at three different temperatures in the range of 800-1200 °C. Physicochemical and biological properties were evaluated to indicate which material would support bone regeneration the best. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed that fluoride ions were incorporated into the apatite lattice structure. In studies it was found that fluorapatite sintered at the highest temperature had the lowest porosity, no internal pores and the highest density. In vitro ion reactivity assessments showed that during the 28-day immersion of the samples in the simulated body fluid, the uptake of calcium and phosphorus ions was inversely correlated to the calcination temperature. All tested materials were non-toxic since the cytotoxicity MTT assay demonstrated that the viability of preosteoblast cells incubated with sample extracts was high. Fluorapatite sintered at 800 °C was determined to be of optimal porosity and fluoride release capacity and then used in cell proliferation studies. The results showed that it significantly shortened the doubling time and thus enhanced the proliferation of osteogenic cells, as compared to the fluoride solutions and control group. Therefore, this material is proposed for the use in orthopedic applications and bone tissue engineering.

Behavior of new hydroxyapatite/glucan composite in human serum.

Biomaterials for bone tissue regeneration, including polymer-based composites, are typically evaluated in vitro prior to the clinical trials. However, such composites tested in vivo may behave different due to the specific body conditions. For example, some composites implanted into the tissue acidified due to transient postoperative inflammation may unexpectedly swell which delays the wound healing. Such massive swelling in acidic medium was previously observed for new elastic hydroxyapatite (HAp)/ß-glucan biomaterial. However, in further clinical cases concerning the composite implantation in patients without significant inflammation indicators, no side effects were observed. Therefore, it was reasonable to test the effect of human serum of neutral pH (typical for noninflamed tissues) on the composite parameters, in particular volume changes. Thus, this article shows the characterization of physicochemical parameters of the composite after incubation (5 days) in human serum of neutral pH by means of weight and volume measurement, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, microcomputed tomography, mercury intrusion, and biochemical techniques. Results showed that human serum collected from healthy people caused no uncontrolled changes in weight and volume, porosity and mechanical properties of the composite. Therefore, this suggests the lack of volume change-related side effects of HAp/glucan composite in bone defects treatment if postoperative inflammation is prevented. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 2653-2664, 2018.

Life hazard ratio--a new scale for assessing the severity of injury in the populational stud.

UNLABELLED: The heterogeneous population of patients affected by trauma is extremely difficult to systematize. This is due to the diversity of mechanisms of injury, the nature and severity of the injury and the population, which relate to injuries, diverse in terms of gender, age, presence of comorbidities that make up the final severity of the injury and a certain degree of danger to life. THE AIM OF THE STUDY: To develop a universal method to assess the severity of injury and loss of life resulting from their consequences, using the parameters available in the Polish administrative databases, a similar diagnostic efficacy as other used scales to assess the severity of damage. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study analyzed a group of 92,463 patients hospitalized due to injuries sustained as a result of injuries in all hospitals of the Lublin region in 2003-2005. Developed catalogs risk factors, reference to the population of the Lublin province. RESULTS: Developed five models predictive of injury severity scale counterparts, which include different combinations of risk factors associated with the type of injury, age of the patient and the mechanism of injury that have been evaluated for their diagnostic efficacy in differentiating the expected outcomes. Prediction model have the best diagnostic efficacy AUROC 0.9615, SE 0.0025 and 95% CI 0,9565-0,9665, hereinafter referred to as Life Hazard Ratio (LHR), which has a similarly high diagnostic efficacy as the other, examined in the work of the rock assess the severity of damage AUROC 0.9585, SE 0.0368, 95% CI0 0.8849-1. CONCLUSIONS: 1. The proposed method of use of the International Classification ICD-10 allows the use of regional administrative databases to conduct detailed analyzes of population and monitor trends in the epidemiology of injuries. 2. Developed Life Hazard Ratio (LHR)is a universal method for the objective evaluation of the severity of injuries and the associated risk of life-threatening, can also conduct population studies. 3. LHR has a comparable rate of diagnostic efficacy as other commonly used scales assessing the severity of the injury.

Pattern of road traffic injuries in Lublin County, Poland.

BACKGROUND: Road traffic injury patients admitted to 35 hospitals in Lublin region. OBJECTIVE: To describe the pattern of road traffic injuries in Lublin county, Poland. METHODS: Review of medical records for the period from January 2004 to December 2005. RESULTS: Pedestrians accounted for the largest share of the Road traffic crash (RTC) injury cases (35.8%) and 46.4% of deaths. The highest mortality was observed in motorcycle occupants (7.1%) and victims with abdominal injuries (9.8%). Vulnerable road users represented 71.4% of all RTC deaths, with mortality 5.8%. Early transfers accounted for 82.5% of cases. Mortality in early transfers is 4 times higher than in late transfers. CONCLUSIONS: Poland ranks as one of the worst European countries in terms of severity and fatal outcomes of road traffic injuries. Groups of road users in Poland at the highest risk are pedestrians, cyclists, children and young male drivers. The highest mortality rate occurs among road users affected by multiple trauma and head/vertebral column injuries. Alleviation of consequences of road traffic injuries in Poland may be achieved by coordinated efforts and collective responsibility of government, central level agencies, rescue team members and community groups.

Agriculture and forestry work-related injuries among farmers admitted to an Emergency Department.

UNLABELLED: The objective of the study was to describe the characteristics of agriculture and forestry related injury cases admitted to an Emergency Department (ED), and to asses factors related to injury severity and hospital admission. Retrospective analysis of ED case records in Teaching Hospital No 1 in Lublin, from January 2004 to December 2005 were utilized. INCLUSION CRITERIA: patient>14 years old, with agriculture and forestry related injuries. Univariate and bivariate descriptive analyses and multiple logistic regressions were performed. 3791 cases were included, 63.1% males, 53.3% cases younger than 30 years and 47.1% of the patients sustained injuries related to machines or falls. After adjusting for age, sex and the presence of multiple injuries, animal related injuries, followed by machine related injuries and falls, were at higher risk of a more severe injury (OR: 1.77, 1.61 and 1.50, respectively). This groups also showed a higher likelihood of hospital admission (OR: 2.03, 192 and 2.00, respectively). Patients attended to in the ED during night hours (OR: 2.06) were also at a higher risk of hospitalization. It was concluded that animal related injuries, agriculture machine operators, and falls, besides accounting for two thirds of analyzed cases, are the mechanism of injury with a greater risk of a more severe injury and higher likelihood of a hospitalization.