Moisture-cured silicone-urethanes-candidate materials for tissue engineering: a biocompatibility study in vitro.

This study was performed to verify the response of human bone-derived cells (HBDCs) to moisture-cured silicone-urethanes (mcSUUs) in vitro, as the first step toward using them as scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. Good surgical handling, tissue cavity filling, stable mechanical properties, and potentially improved oxygen supply to cells after implantation justify the investigation of these nondegradable elastomers. A set of various mcSUUs were obtained by moisture-curing NCO-terminated prepolymers, synthesized from oligomeric siloxane diols of two different oligosiloxane chain lengths, and two different diisocyanates (MDI and IPDI), using two different NCO/OH molar ratios. Dibutyltindilaurate (DBTL) or N-dimethylethanolamine (N-met) served as catalysts. After 7 days of culture, cell number, viability, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity were determined, and after 21 days, cell viability and collagen production were determined. Material characteristics significantly influenced the cell response. The mcSUUs prepared with DBTL (widely used in the syntheses of biomaterials) were cytotoxic. The MDI-based mcSUUs were significantly more favored by HBDCs than the IPDI-based ones in all performed tests. MDI-based material with low 2/1 NCO/OH and short chain length was the best support for cells, comparable with tissue-culture polystyrene (with ALP activity even higher). HBDCs cultured on porous scaffolds from this mcSUU produced a tissue-like structure in culture. (c) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2010.

Screening of cytoplasmic DNA diversity between and within Lupinus mutabilis Sweet and Lupinus albus sensu lato by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP).

Seven populations and five mutant lines of the Andean lupin and four species from the section Albus were screened for their mitochondrial and chloroplast polymorphisms. For this purpose the RFLP method with EcoRI as a restriction enzyme was used. Lupinus luteus, Lupinus albus and Phaseolus vulgaris organellar clones as well as amplified fragments were used as probes. We found that mitochondrial probes were more suitable than chloroplast probes for identification of inter- and intra-specific variations within the examined material. Most mitochondrial probes differentiate the two species investigated. A high level of mitochondrial polymorphism was observed among the populations of L. mutabilis in contrast to monomorphism among the species in the section Albus. A limited polymorphism was detected between the mutant lines of L. mutabilis. We conclude from this study that the mitochondrial RFLP analysis is a valuable tool for identification of variability among Andean lupin populations.

[Hemostatic disturbances in women with unexplained fetal loss]. / Zaburzenia hemostazy u kobiet z utrata ciaz o niewyjasnionej etiologii.

106 women was screened for a lupus anticoagulant. Activated partial thromboplastin time, tissue thromboplastin inhibition test and euglobulin lysis time was performed. Ten of 61 women (16%) with spontaneous multiple abortions, foetal death, intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and gestosis had one or two pathological results of tests while no one of the 41 women which had no pregnancy complication. Significance of difference between this two groups was verified by Fischer exact test (P less than 0.05).