Derivation and Differentiation of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Osteoarthritis Patients

Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is a degenerative joint disease caused by the progressive reduction of the articular cartilage surface that leads to reduced joint function. Cartilage degeneration occurs through gradual loss in extracellular matrix components including type II collagen and proteoglycan. Due to limited inherent self repair capacity of the cartilage, the use of cell-based therapies for articular cartilage regeneration is considered promising. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) are multipotent cells and are highly capable of multilineage differentiation which render them valuable for regenerative medicine. In this study, BM-MSCs were isolated from OA patients and were characterized for MSC specific CD surface marker antigens using flowcytometry and their differentiation potential into adipocytes, osteocytes and chondrocytes were evaluated using histological and gene expression studies. BM-MSCs isolated from OA patients showed short spindle shaped morphology in culture and expressed positive MSC related CD markers. They also demonstrated positive staining with oil red O, alizarin red and alcian blue following differentiation into adipocytes, osteocytes and chondrocytes, respectively. In addition, chodrogenic related genes such as collagen type II alpha1, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein, fibromodulin, and SOX9 as well as osteocytic related genes such as alkaline phosphatase, core-binding factor alpha 1, osteopontin and RUNX2 runt-related transcription factor 2 were upregulated following chondrogenic and osteogenic differentiation respectively. We have successfully isolated and characterized BM-MSCs from OA patients. Although BM-MSCs has been widely studied and their potential in regenerative medicine is reported, the present study is the first report in our series of experiments on the BMSCs isolated from OA patients at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Career counseling activities and choice of specialties among medical interns

To identify the specialties chosen by medical interns and factors influencing their choices during academic year of 2009. King Abdulaziz University Hospital. Questionnaire study. A questionnaire adopted from the American Graduate Council was distributed to 250 medical interns. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16 [2005]. One hundred and fifty-one questionnaires were completed with a response rate of 60%. Hundred and thirteen [75%] of students are planning to become certified in one of the different subspecialties, see figure 1. Seventeen [11.3%] favored internal medicine followed by anesthesia, 11 [7.3%]. Pathology, cardiac surgery, dermatology, general surgery and occupational medicine ranked third, 10 [6.7%], see figure 2. Plastic and orthopedic surgeries were not among their interest.Eighteen [12%] had been engaged in in-house electives, 14 [9.3%] had accessed the websites; the two had been found the most useful tools in helping students in their specialty choices. Career planning programs, careers availability on medicine websites, group presentations, career planning workshops and courses were not considered by students while choosing their career mainly due to unavailability, see table 1. Personal interest was the most important factor which had strongly influenced students' specialty choices, 109 [73%], see table 2. Family expectations and the length of residency training programs had minor influence. The lack of physicians in some specialties where should be addressed. Establishing a career advising committee at KAU is advised. This committee should focus on medical students during their final clinical years and during internship rotations putting in perspective the national health problems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Hypereosinophilic syndrome

Hypereosinophilic syndrome is a rare disease with variable outcome. It is usually a disease of young adults. Involvement of the heart and or lungs occurs in 40-60% of cases which can lead to severe heart and lung failure. Direct tissue eosinophilic infiltration and release of their toxic granules are the main underlying pathology. In this study, we report a young lady presented with a short history of fever, easy fatigability, weight loss and bilateral lung infiltrates. The diagnosis was consistent with Hypereosinophilic syndrome and despite treatment with pulses of intravenous Methylprednisolone, oral Prednisolone, Hydroxyurea and Imitinab Mesylate, the patient unfortunately died because of severe respiratory failure. The age group, striking eosinophilia and fulminant fatal course without neoplasia warranted reporting