A prospective study on application of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells combined with autologous Meek microskin transplantation in patients with extensive burns / 中华烧伤杂志

Objective: To investigate the effects of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) combined with autologous Meek microskin transplantation on patients with extensive burns. Methods: The prospective self-controlled study was conducted. From May 2019 to June 2022, 16 patients with extensive burns admitted to the 990th Hospital of PLA Joint Logistics Support Force met the inclusion criteria, while 3 patients were excluded according to the exclusion criteria, and 13 patients were finally selected, including 10 males and 3 females, aged 24-61 (42±13) years. A total of 20 trial areas (40 wounds, with area of 10 cm×10 cm in each wound) were selected. Two adjacent wounds in each trial area were divided into hUCMSC+gel group applied with hyaluronic acid gel containing hUCMSCs and gel only group applied with hyaluronic acid gel only according to the random number table, with 20 wounds in each group. Afterwards the wounds in two groups were transplanted with autologous Meek microskin grafts with an extension ratio of 1∶6. In 2, 3, and 4 weeks post operation, the wound healing was observed, the wound healing rate was calculated, and the wound healing time was recorded. The specimen of wound secretion was collected for microorganism culture if there was purulent secretion on the wound post operation. In 3, 6, and 12 months post operation, the scar hyperplasia in wound was assessed using the Vancouver scar scale (VSS). In 3 months post operation, the wound tissue was collected for hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining to observe the morphological changes and for immunohistochemical staining to observe the positive expressions of Ki67 and vimentin and to count the number of positive cells. Data were statistically analyzed with paired samples t test and Bonferronni correction. Results: In 2, 3, and 4 weeks post operation, the wound healing rates in hUCMSC+gel group were (80±11)%, (84±12)%, and (92±9)%, respectively, which were significantly higher than (67±18)%, (74±21)%, and (84±16)% in gel only group (with t values of 4.01, 3.52, and 3.66, respectively, P<0.05). The wound healing time in hUCMSC+gel group was (31±11) d, which was significantly shorter than (36±13) d in gel only group (t=-3.68, P<0.05). The microbiological culture of the postoperative wound secretion specimens from the adjacent wounds in 2 groups was identical, with negative results in 4 trial areas and positive results in 16 trial areas. In 3, 6, and 12 months post operation, the VSS scores of wounds in gel only group were 7.8±1.9, 6.7±2.1, and 5.4±1.6, which were significantly higher than 6.8±1.8, 5.6±1.6, and 4.0±1.4 in hUCMSC+gel group, respectively (with t values of -4.79, -4.37, and -5.47, respectively, P<0.05). In 3 months post operation, HE staining showed an increase in epidermal layer thickness and epidermal crest in wound in hUCMSC+gel group compared with those in gel only group, and immunohistochemical staining showed a significant increase in the number of Ki67 positive cells in wound in hUCMSC+gel group compared with those in gel only group (t=4.39, P<0.05), with no statistically significant difference in the number of vimentin positive cells in wound between the 2 groups (P>0.05). Conclusions: The application of hyaluronic acid gel containing hUCMSCs to the wound is simple to perform and is therefore a preferable route. Topical application of hUCMSCs can promote healing of the autologous Meek microskin grafted area in patients with extensive burns, shorten wound healing time, and alleviate scar hyperplasia. The above effects may be related to the increased epidermal thickness and epidermal crest, and active cell proliferation.

An Application of Haiao Prosthodontics Membrane in the Repair of Palatal Fistula / 昆明医科大学学报

Objective To investigate the application of Haiao prosthodontics membrane in the repair of palatal fistula. Methods According to personal preference, 32 patients with palatal fistula were randomly divided into the experimental group (n=15 cases) and the control group (n=17 cases) . In the experimental group, the flap of the surrounding tissue of fistula was used as nasal layer and Haiao prosthodontics membrane was used as the oral layer for the repair of palatal fistula.In the control group, the flap of the same tissue was used as nasal layer and the flap of the ortho tissue was used as the oral layer to repair the palatal fistula. Several indexes were evaluated including the blood loss,operation time, hospitalization time, postoperative fever, postoperative complications and hospitalization expenses. Results Less blood loss, shorter operation time and shorter hospital stay were observed in the experimental group compared with the control group (P＜0.05) . The incidence of fever after operation, the temperature and the duration of the fever were significantly lower in the experimental group (P＜0.05) . The incidence of bleeding complications after operation in the experimental group were significantly lower compared with that in the control group (P＜0.05) . No significant difference of the refissure rate and hospitalization expenses was found between the two groups (P＞0.05) .Conclusion Haiao prosthodontics membrane can be used to repair some palatal fistula. Advantages include safety, reliability, mild postoperative reaction and quick recovery.

Therapeutic evaluation on complex interventions of integrative medicine and the potential role of data mining / 中国结合医学杂志

It is a common view that the integration of Chinese medicine (CM) and modern Western medicine is an efficient way to facilitate the development of CM. Integrative medicine is a kind of complex interventions. Scientific therapeutic evaluation plays a crucial role in making integrative medicine universally acknowledged. However, the modern method of clinical study, which is based on the concept of evidence-based medicine, mostly focuses on the population characteristics and single interventional factor. As a result, it is difficult for this method to totally adapt to the clinical features of CM and integrative medicine as complex interventions. One possible way to solve this issue is to improve and integrate with the existing method and to utilize the evaluation model on complex interventions from abroad. As an interdisciplinary technique, data mining involves database technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics, neural network and some other latest technologies, and has been widely used in the field of CM. Therefore, the application of data mining in the therapeutic evaluation of integrative medicine has broad prospects.