Effects of Chitosan on Chondrocytes Derived from Human Nasal Septal Cartilage.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of chitosan on the growth of nasal septal chondrocytes (NSCs). The final goal was to establish a novel methodology to enhance nasal septal cartilage regeneration. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Human NSCs were isolated and their morphology was examined using Alcian blue staining and observed by light microscopy. The isolated NSCs were grown with various concentrations of chitosan and the expression of COL2A1 was investigated. RESULTS: NSCs were successfully isolated from nasal septal cartilage. Co-culture with 0.2% of chitosan greatly enhanced proliferation of NSCs compared to control cells. However, 0.5% of chitosan was harmful to NSCs, resulting in cell detachment from the culture plate. Furthermore, the addition of 0.2% chitosan significantly improved the expression of COL2A1 in NSCs. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge, this is the first report to demonstrate that chitosan could effectively guide the attachment and growth of human NSCs. Chitosan appears to be a promising additive for NSC culture, which sets the stage for studying tissue regeneration in nasal septal cartilage deficiency, rhinoplasty, and craniofacial reconstruction.

Development of Injectable Calcium Sulfate and Self-Setting Calcium Phosphate Composite Bone Graft Materials for Minimally Invasive Surgery.

The demand of bone grafting is increasing as the population ages worldwide. Although bone graft materials have been extensively developed over the decades, only a few injectable bone grafts are clinically available and none of them can be extruded from 18G needles. To overcome the existing treatment limitations, the aim of this study is to develop ideal injectable implants from biomaterials for minimally invasive surgery. An injectable composite bone graft containing calcium sulfate hemihydrate, tetracalcium phosphate, and anhydrous calcium hydrogen phosphate (CSH/CaP paste) was prepared with different CSH/CaP ratios and different concentrations of additives. The setting time, injectability, mechanical properties, and biocompatibility were evaluated. The developed injectable CSH/CaP paste (CSH/CaP 1:1 supplemented with 6% citric acid and 2% HPMC) presented good handling properties, great biocompatibility, and adequate mechanical strength. Furthermore, the paste was demonstrated to be extruded from a syringe equipped with 18G needles and exerted a great potential for minimally invasive surgery. The developed injectable implants with tissue repairing potentials will provide an ideal therapeutic strategy for minimally invasive surgery to apply in the treatment of maxillofacial defects, certain indications in the spine, inferior turbinate for empty nose syndrome (ENS), or reconstructive rhinoplasty.

Delayed-Onset Edematous Foreign Body Granulomas 40 Years After Augmentation Rhinoplasty by Silicone Implant Combined with Liquid Silicone Injection.

Despite the widespread application of augmentation rhinoplasty in Asia, reports on the interaction between alloplastic implants and injectable filler are scarce. This paper reports on a patient with delayed-onset edematous foreign body granuloma that had been caused by augmentation rhinoplasty performed using a silicone implant in conjunction with a liquid silicone injection 40 years earlier. This is the longest reported duration between initial rhinoplasty and the exacerbation of foreign body granuloma. This case report also presents intraoperative findings pertaining to the interlocking structures between silicone implants and injected liquid silicone. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE V: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Migrated Implant Causing Refractory Headache in Rhinoplasty.

Alloplastic materials are popular and readily available for use in nasal augmentations. Among them, silicone implant is one of the most widely used, especially in certain areas in Asia for its reasonable cost and relatively simple operative technique. A major disadvantage of silicone is its notorious mobility after implantation and rate of extrusion if traumatized or exposed. Here, an unusual complication of a silicone implant for rhinoplasty was presented. We report a case of a 58-year-old woman who had augmentation rhinoplasty 20 years ago suffered from headache for over a year. Brain lesion and neurologic causes were ruled out by neurologists and physician in family medicine. Local finding showed upwardly deviated nasion and vague shape of silicone implant underneath the skin on nasal dorsum.

Mutations in the OTOF gene in Taiwanese patients with auditory neuropathy.

Mutations in the OTOF gene have been found to be common causes of auditory neuropathy (AN) in Caucasians. However, the prevalence and spectrum of OTOF mutations in other populations have been inadequately documented. To explore the genetic characteristics of East Asian patients with AN, we screened for mutations in the OTOF gene by direct sequencing in 22 unrelated Taiwanese AN families (including 2 multiplex and 20 simplex families) and looked for genotype-phenotype correlations. Among the probands of the 22 AN families, a novel OTOF variant, p.E1700Q (c.5098G→C), was identified in 5 probands (23%), including 4 homozygotes and 1 heterozygote. By using restriction fragment length polymorphism to screen another 500 unrelated patients with idiopathic sensorineural hearing impairment, we further identified 1 p.E1700Q homozygote who also had clinical features compatible with AN. Furthermore, p.E1700Q was not identified in a panel of 100 normal controls, it cosegregated with the AN phenotype in the pedigrees, and the p.E1700 residue is evolutionarily conserved, consistent with its pathogenicity for AN. The associated audiologic features included progressive, prelingual, bilateral moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss with a flat-type audiogram configuration. After genotyping single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the vicinity of p.E1700Q, we found that OTOF alleles with p.E1700Q shared a common haplotype, suggesting a founder effect for p.E1700Q. The predominance of the p.E1700Q mutation and the evidence of its founder effect indicate a distinct OTOF mutation spectrum in Taiwanese patients with AN.

Prospective mutation screening of three common deafness genes in a large Taiwanese Cohort with idiopathic bilateral sensorineural hearing impairment reveals a difference in the results between families from hospitals and those from rehabilitation facilities.

Accurate epidemiological data on common deafness genes are essential to improve the efficiency and to reduce the cost of molecular diagnosis. They may depend on several factors, including a clear delineation of the source of patients being studied. In the present study, we hypothesize that patients with idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss recruited from different sources might reveal discrepancies in the epidemiological results of genetic screening, because patients from different sources might demonstrate distinct clinical or audiologic features and thus result in biased selection of subjects. To elucidate the relative importance of common deafness genes in Taiwanese and to verify our hypothesis, we conducted a prospective project screening mutations in GJB2, SLC26A4 and mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene in a total of 420 Taiwanese families with idiopathic bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, of which 325 families were recruited from hospitals and 95 from hearing rehabilitation facilities. Allele frequencies of common mutations in these three genes and distributions of the corresponding genotypes were then compared between the two groups. The allele frequencies of mutations in SLC26A4, GJB2 and mitochondrial 12S rRNA in the probands of the 420 families were 14.4, 21.7 and 3.8%, respectively. The allele frequency of SLC26A4 mutations in the hospital group was significantly higher than that in the rehabilitation facility group (16.2 vs. 8.4%, chi(2)-test, p < 0.05), whereas no difference in the frequencies of GJB2 mutations and mitochondrial 12S rRNA mutations was found between the two groups. Distributions of probands classified by SLC26A4 genotypes were also different between the two groups (chi(2)-test, p < 0.05). Accordingly, a discrepancy in the genetic screening results might exist between different sources of idiopathic hearing-impaired patients. Further analysis of audiological results and construction of a logistic regression model showed that different audiological features, namely hearing levels and hearing loss patterns, might be responsible for the unequal distributions of mutations and probands between the hospital and rehabilitation facility groups.

Prevalence and clinical features of the mitochondrial m.1555A>G mutation in Taiwanese patients with idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss and association of haplogroup F with low penetrance in three families.

OBJECTIVE: The m.1555A>G mutation in the mitochondria 12S rRNA gene has been reported to be an important cause of nonsyndromic hereditary hearing loss. However, remarkable interfamilial and intrafamilial variations in the phenotypes of the mutation preclude precise prognosis during genetic counseling. Hence, this study was performed to explore the factors that might contribute to the differences in the phenotypes, including aminoglycoside exposure, mutation load and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) background. Also reported were the prevalence and the clinical features of the m.1555A>G mutation in the hearing-impaired Taiwanese patients. DESIGN: Mutations in the 12S rRNA gene were screened in a panel of 315 unrelated Taiwanese families with idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss. The clinical features in families with m.1555A>G mutation were analyzed, and the roles of aminoglycoside exposure, mutation load and mtDNA background in disease expression were investigated. Penetrance was then compared among families with different mtDNA backgrounds. RESULTS: The m.1555A>G mutation was identified in a total of 10 (3.2%) families, and was characterized clinically by progressive, postlingual and bilaterally symmetric sensorineural hearing loss and normal temporal bone radiological results. The m.1555A>G mutation was homoplasmic (i.e., all the mitochondrial DNA carries the mutation) in all the matrilineal relatives in these 10 pedigrees. Among the 44 hearing-impaired relatives of the 10 pedigrees, only two recalled definite episodes of aminoglycoside-induced hearing loss. mtDNA backgrounds in these 10 families could be categorized into 6 main haplogroups (A, B, D, F, M7, N*), including three families belonging to haplogroup F, two belonging to haplogroup A, two belonging to haplogroup M7, and three belonging to haplogroups B, N* and D, respectively. Penetrance differed among various haplogroups, and certain haplogroups appeared to be associated with a lower penetrance, like the three haplogroup F families, in which the penetrance ranged from 13 to 33%. Further analysis confirmed a heterogeneous distribution of hearing-impaired subjects among various haplogroups (Chi-square test, p = 0.018). CONCLUSIONS: The mitochondrial m.1555A>G mutation accounted for 3.2% of the Taiwanese families (0% of the simplex families and 11% of multiplex families respectively) with sensorineural hearing impairment of unknown etiology. Since it was identified in a variety of mtDNA backgrounds, the mutation appeared to arise from multiple origins in Taiwanese. As subjects with various haplogroups demonstrated different penetrance, mtDNA background might exert effects on the disease expression of the m.1555A>G mutation.