ABSTRACT
Background: Purity of cultured Schwann cell is very important in patients' outcome. The purpose of this study was evaluation of cell purity in a culture without nerve growth factors and fetal bovine serum
Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, for culture of human Schwann cells, nerve growth factors and fetal bovine serum were replaced by human autologous serum. Obtaining a consent from the close relative, nerve grafts were harvested and transported to processing unit where they were cultured in DMEM upon aseptic condition. Then the cultured cells were evaluated with S100 antibody staining for both morphology and purity
Results: Cell purity range was from 97% to 99% [mean=98.11+/-0.782%]. Cell count was 14055.56+/-2480.479 per microliter. There was not significant correlation between cell purity with either the culture period or the age of donors [P>0.05]. The Spearman correlation coefficient for the cell purity with the culture period and the age of donors was -0.21 and -0.09, respectively
Conclusion: We found that the replacement of nerve growth factors and fetal bovine serum with human autologous serum improves the cultured Schwann cells for clinical use with more safety and minimum reagents
ABSTRACT
To evaluate the role of amniotic membrane transplantation [AMT] in acute ocular chemical burns. Patients with grade II-IV [GII-GIV] ocular chemical burns [Roper-Hall classification] of less than two weeks' duration underwent AMT in addition to medical therapy. Patients were followed for at least 6 months and evaluated for ocular pain, visual acuity, epithelial defect healing, symbelpharon formation, and corneal opacity and neovascularization. Twelve eyes of 8 patients [6 male, 2 female] with mean age of 28.75 +/- 11.8 [range 12-44] years were operated. Mean duration between chemical burn and surgery was 2.5 +/- 3.3 days [range, 2 hours to 10 days]. Mean follow up period was 11.5 +/- 1.5 [range 10-13] months. The chemical agent was acidic in six eyes and alkaline in the other six. Ocular burns were GII in one eye, GIII in four eyes and GIV in seven eyes. Pain and discomfort decreased in all patients. Visual acuity improved completely in the eye with GII burn. It also improved in three eyes and remained unchanged in one eye with GIII burn. In eyes with GIV burn, two underwent tectonic corneal grafts due to perforation and two were phthisical, however visual acuity decreased in two and increased in one of the remaining eyes. The epithelial defect healed within 6 days in the eye with GII burn. Mean time for healing was 53.75 +/- 5.2 days in eyes with GIII burn. Keratolimbal allograft surgery was performed in one eye with persistent epithelial defect and severe corneal thinning. In the other two eyes, the epithelium healed in 70 and 75 days. Corneal neovascularization was seen in two eyes with GIII and all eyes with GIV burns. Corneal opacity developed in all eyes with GIII and GIV burns. Only mild symblepharon was seen in four eyes with GIV burn. AMT seems to be effective in pain reduction and prevention of symblepharon formation. It seems ineffective in preventing corneal opacification and neovascularization. The role of AMT in accelerating epithelial healing and improving visual acuity in patients with GII and GIII ocular burns needs to be evaluated in a clinical trial. It seems that prevention of symblepharon formation is the only role of AMT in eyes with GIV chemical burns
ABSTRACT
Gamma irradiation has been widely used for secondary sterilization of bone allograft before clinical use to reduce the risk of infection and associated complications. The current study evaluated the effect of gamma irradiation sterilization on the osteoinductive capability of human demineralized bone matrix using a rat model. Eighteen euthymic rats received two separate implants consisting of 30 mg sterile-harvest demineralized bone matrix and 30 mg gamma irradiation-sterilized demineralized bone matrix. The demineralized bone matrix from each group was placed into two separate muscle pouches created in the paravertebral muscles of each rat. All 18 rats were euthanized after 4 weeks and each implantation site was removed with 0, 5 cm normal tissue around the implant. Histological examination was performed to determine the presence or absence of new bone, cartilage and bone marrow elements, All except one of 18 [94.4%] sterile-harvest demineralized bone matrix sites histologically contained new bone elements and five of 18 [27.7%] ethylene oxide sterilized demineralized bone matrix sites showed evidence of new bone elements, which was statistically significant [p<0.05]. The results of this study indicate that demineralized bone matrix sterilized with gamma irradiation loses its osteoinductive capacity in a manner similar to that of steamsterilized demineralized bone matrix, making it unsuitable as a method of secondary sterilization of demineralized bone matrix
ABSTRACT
The past decade has witnessed the revival of amniotic membrane transplantation [AMT] in ophthalmology. The importance of AMT is due to its ability to reduce scarring and inflammation and to enhance wound healing and epithelialization, and also its anti-microbial properties. Amniotic membrane has recently been used as a substrate for culturing limbal stem cells for transplantation. It has been used extensively in corneal disorders such as neurotrophic ulcers, persistent epithelial defects, shield ulcers, microbial keratitis, band keratopathy, bullous keratopathy, following photorefractive keratectomy, and chemical injury. It has also been used for ocular surface reconstruction in conjunctival pathologies such as following surgery for ocular surface squamous neoplasia. pterygium. and symblepharon. The purpose of this review article is to describe basic structure and features of amniotic membrane, the preparation process it for transplantation, and its clinical applications in ophthalmology