Protective effects of sodium ferulate on flap transplantation via anti-inflammatory modulation and oxidative stress inhibition

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) has brought attention to flap failure in reconstructive surgery. To improve the prognosis of skin transplantation, we performed experimental IRI by surgical obstruction of blood flow and used sodium ferulate (SF) to prevent IRI in rats. After SF treatment, the morphological and histological changes of the skin flaps were observed by H&E and Masson's trichrome staining. We also detected the expression levels of COX-1, HO-1, and Ki67 by immunohistochemical and western blot analysis. Moreover, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to identify the content of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, myeloperoxidase (MPO), malondialdehyde (MDA), and nitric oxide (NO) in peripheral blood and skin tissue. Compared with the model group, SF treatment significantly improved the recovered flap area (%) and promoted collagen synthesis. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression was significantly inhibited by heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) induction after SF treatment. Furthermore, SF significantly inhibited the levels of TNF-α in peripheral blood, MPO and MDA in the skin tissue, and the increased synthesis of NO. Our results showed the protective effects of SF on IRI after flap transplantation and we believe that the protective effects of SF was closely related to the alleviation of the inflammatory response and the inhibition of the oxidative stress injury.

Clinical evaluation of fleroxacin in the treatment of bone and joint infections.

The objective of this open label, non-comparative study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of fleroxacin 400mg administered orally once daily to patients with acute osteomyelitis and/or acute septic arthritis. Nineteen patients (10 males and 9 females) were evaluable for the analysis of clinical efficacy and safety. Of these, 7 (36.8%) had osteomyelitis and 12 (63.2%) had septic arthritis. Bacteriological cures were reported in 6 of 7 patients (85.7%) with osteomyelitis and in 8 of 11 patients (72.7%) with septic arthritis. The median duration of treatment for the clinical cures in osteomyelitis and septic arthritis were 29.5 days and 46 days respectively. The eradication rate for the most common pathogens, Salmonella enteritidis and Staphylococcus aureus were 77.7% and 80.0%, respectively. The clinical response was cure in 4 of 7 patients (57.1%) evaluable for osteomyelitis, and in 9 of 12 patients (75.0%) evaluable for septic arthritis at the three-month follow-up after treatment. Adverse reactions were minimal. It is concluded that fleroxacin appears to be an effective and safe in the treatment of acute osteomyelitis and acute septic arthritis.