Short-Term Effects and Safety Analysis of Retrograde Autologous Blood Priming for Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Patients with Cardiac Valve Replacement Surgery.

This randomized, double-blind study evaluated the short-term effects and safety of perioperative retrograde autologous priming (RAP) for cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) in patients with cardiac replacement surgery to determine if this approach is a better substitute for crystal liquids priming in patients with valvular heart disease. We observed that RAP significantly decreased the actual priming volume, preserved the hematocrit and hemoglobin level during CPB to a certain degree, and decreased lactate accumulation in CPB period. Moreover, RAP lowered the volume of transfusion and dosage blood products. Thus, our results showed that RAP approach effectively improved tissue perfusion and lowered intraoperative Lac levels, by reducing the hemodilution, which safely and reliably improve the microcirculation perfusion.

[Retraction] Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells using skin fibroblasts from patients with myocardial infarction under feeder-free conditions.

After the publication of the article, the authors decided they wished to retract their manuscript for the following reasons. We wish to retract our research article entitled 'Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells using skin fibroblasts from patients with myocardial infarction under feeder-free conditions' published on the Molecular Medicine Reports 9: 837-842, 2014. In this article, we generated human iPSCs from skin fibroblasts from myocardial infarction patients in feeder-independent conditions. However, in subsequent researches, all of the cells generated and believed to be iPSCs showed negative expression of the pluripotent markers, Nanog and Rex1, and the cell surface marker, SSEA-1 and SSEA-4. Therefore we think the established iPS cells might not be real pluripotent stem cells. Based on the above mentioned, we ascertained that there must have some serious disadvantages in our design of experiment fundamentally. As a result, all authors involved unanimously agreed to retract this article and redesign our experiment. We deeply apologize to the readers for any inconvenience caused by this retraction. [the original article was published in the Molecular Medicine Reports 9: 837-842, 2014 DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2014.1885].

Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells using skin fibroblasts from patients with myocardial infarction under feeder-free conditions.

Myocardial infarction (MI) is an increasing medical problem; however, its pathogenesis has yet to be elucidated and more effective treatment strategies are required. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were recently successfully generated using human somatic cells transfected with four transcription factors. The present study aimed to generate iPSCs from cells from patients with myocardial infarction. Six patients who had been diagnosed with myocardial infarction were enrolled in this study. The fibroblast cells from the biopsied skin were reprogrammed using octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (Oct­4), SRY-related HMG-box gene 2 (Sox­2), Kruppel-like factor 4 (Klf­4) and cellular myelocytomatosis oncogene (c­Myc) transcription factors. The generated cells were identified by karyotyping, in vitro and in vivo differentiation ability and staining for specific markers. These human MI­iPSCs expressed pluripotent genes and cell surface markers, and exhibited normal proliferation. The iPSCs also showed in vivo and in vitro differentiation ability, as indicated by teratoma and embryoid body formation, respectively. Moreover, the iPSCs differentiated into cardiomyocytes and neuronal cells. In conclusion, human iPSCs were successfully generated from skin fibroblasts from patients with MI under feeder­independent conditions, which increases their potential suitability for clinical applications. These results may encourage further study of MI pathogenesis and facilitate the development of safe downstream clinical applications of iPSC­based cell therapies.

Anti-rejection effect of ethanol extract of Poria cocos wolf in rats after cardiac allograft implantation.

BACKGROUND: A living fetus within the maternal uterus provides an example of allogene tolerance in mammals. Poria cocos Wolf is the main component of many Chinese medicinal combination drugs that have therapeutic effects on recurrent spontaneous abortion and that can maintain pregnancy until delivery. It was hypothesized that this herbal medicine can also prolong allograft survival after organ transplantation. Here, in an in vivo study, we report the anti-rejection effect of the ethanol extract of Poria cocos Wolf (EEPCW) in rats after cardiac allograft implantation. METHODS: Ten normal rats were healthy controls. Eighty rats receiving homologous heart transplants were divided into 4 groups of 20 rats each based on type of treatment: olive oil 8 ml.kg(-1).d(-1), EEPCW 25 mg.kg(-1).d(-1), EEPCW 50 mg.kg(-1).d(-1) or cyclosporin A 5 mg.kg(-1).d(-1). Allograft survival was observed in 10 rats from each group. On the seventh day post transplantation, pathological lesions and percentages of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ lymphocytes and the CD4+/CD8+ ratio in peripheral blood were assessed in another 10 rats from each group and in 10 normal rats. RESULTS: The survival time of donor hearts in the two EEPCW groups was significantly prolonged, to (15.9 +/- 2.4) days and (30.0 +/- 0.0) days, respectively, compared with (6.7 +/- 0.8) days in the control group. Pathological lesions in the two EEPCW groups were also less severe, and the percentages of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ lymphocytes and CD4+/CD8+ ratio were significantly lower in the EEPCW groups. CONCLUSIONS: Acute rejection of heart transplants and cellular immune reaction can be effectively suppressed using the EEPCW. Taking advantage of novel immunosuppressants derived from Chinese medicinal herbs used to treat abnormal pregnancy provides a hopeful road for future research and treatment in organ transplantation.