A study on the mechanical characteristics of the EBM-printed Ti-6Al-4V LCP plates in vitro.

PURPOSE: The electron beam melting (EBM) Ti-6Al-4V material technology has been developed over a short time period. It was introduced through a research to develop Ti-6Al-4V implants for patients, but EBM printed locking compression plates have not been used for clinical implants. The main purpose of this study is to find whether the EBM Ti-6Al-4V plate suit for clinical implants. METHODS: First, we scanned an AO-locking compression plate (LCP) and printed LCP samples using EBM. Next, we evaluated the EBM plate surface roughness through optical microscopy as well as the LCP and EBM plates' mechanical characteristics using the ASTM standard, which is commonly used to test the mechanical properties of bone plates subject to bending. Each sample was examined using a single-cycle four-point bending test and hardness testing to acquire data on bending stiffness, bending strength, bending structural stiffness, and hardness. RESULTS: The results show significant differences in bending stiffness, bending strength, bending structural stiffness, and hardness between the samples using EBM and the original LCP plates. The EBM-printed samples' surface roughness was 0.49 ± 0.02 µm. The mean hardness of the LCP sample was 266.67 HV10 ± 5.8, and the EBM-printed sample mean hardness was 341.1 HV10 ± 1.93. The EBM samples' bending stiffness was 87.67%, which is greater than using the LCP plates'; and the bending strength was 190.7% greater, the bending structural stiffness was 73.2% greater, and the hardness was 27.9% greater. CONCLUSIONS: The results show that the EBM plates' general mechanical strength was significantly greater than the LCP plates. An EBM plate is advantageous for clinical implants because it can be customized with great potential for improvement.

Lack of association between LEPR Lys656Asn or Ser343Ser polymorphisms and cancer susceptibility: A meta-analysis.

Previous studies have shown conflicting results between the association of leptin receptor (LEPR) genetic polymorphisms and cancer risk. The frequent LEPR Lys656Asn or Ser343Ser genetic polymorphism has been demonstrated to be functional and may promote genetic susceptibility to cancers. However, the association between the LEPR Lys656Asn or Ser343Ser genetic polymorphism and cancer risk remains to be determined. To improve the understanding of the LEPR Lys656Asn or Ser343Ser genetic polymorphism role in global cancer, a comprehensive meta-analysis was conducted that comprised 2,480 cases and 3,162 controls. The LEPR Lys656Asn or Ser343Ser genetic polymorphism did not significantly affect the cancer risk. In the stratified analysis, there was no significant association of the LEPR Lys656Asn or Ser343Ser variants with any type of cancer under any model. In addition, significantly increased risks were found in the Asian population in heterozygous codominant [odds ratio (OR), 1.24 (1.01-1.53)] and dominant [OR, 1.24 (1.02-1.50)] genetic models. A significantly increased susceptibility to cancer was not found when stratified by study design. There were no significant differences found in genotype method and sample size in cases among the genotypes. These findings indicated a lack of association between LEPR Lys656Asn or Ser343Ser polymorphisms and cancer susceptibility, however, these polymorphisms may increase the cancer susceptibility among the Asian population, particularly in the dominant genetic model. The single-nucleotide polymorphism is also suggested to function as a dominant mutation, which requires verification or association with functional studies.