Cross Vertical Mattress Suturing with Basilar Tightening During the Correction of Inverted Nipple in 30 Cases.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of cross vertical mattress suturing with basilar tightening during the correction of inverted nipple. METHODS: Thirty patients with inverted nipples underwent cross vertical mattress suturing with basilar tightening. The postoperative results were recorded. RESULTS: All the patients were followed up for 6 months to 2 years. The results of 28 cases were satisfactory, and there was no recurrence. Two patients relapsed, and a mild depression was formed. They were satisfied with the results after the second correction. CONCLUSION: The method of cross vertical mattress suturing with basilar tightening has been applied to treat inverted nipple, with minimal trauma, which provides a reliable guarantee for a long-term effect. It is worthy to be widely used in clinical practice. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: 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 .

Optimum conditions for Radix Rehmanniae polysaccharides by RSM and its antioxidant and immunity activity in UVB mice.

Optimization of Radix Rehmanniae polysaccharides (RRPs) was done using response surface methodology (RSM). Optimum extraction conditions for maximizing the determination of Radix Rehmanniae polysaccharides were: extraction temperature 100 °C, extraction time 2h and ratio of liquid to solid 6. The model had a satisfactory coefficient of R(2) (=0.9815) and was verified experimentally. The results suggested that the conditions were mild and useful for extraction yield of Radix Rehmanniae polysaccharides. Pharmacological experiment showed that Radix Rehmanniae polysaccharides could enhance serum interleukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels, skin glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities, and decrease skin malondialdehyde (MDA) level in ultraviolet B (UVB) ray treated mice, this study suggests that Radix Rehmanniae polysaccharides extract may prove to be a useful therapeutic option in the reversal of skin diseases.

Differentiated epidermal cells regain the ability to regenerate a skin equivalent by increasing the level of ß-catenin in the cells.

Epidermal stem cells are of major importance for skin regeneration and tissue engineering, but differentiated epidermal cells lost their proliferative capacity and are no longer able to regenerate a skin equivalent. Here, we investigated the role of ß-catenin in regulating regenerative functions of differentiated epidermal cells. Lithium chloride and a highly specific glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3ß inhibitor were applied to induce the expression of ß-catenin in differentiated epidermal cells. After a 6-day induction, the large flat-shaped cells with a small nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio had changed into small round-shaped cells with a large nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio. Phenotypic assays showed a remarkably higher expression of CK19, ß(1)-integrin, Oct4 and Nanog in induced cells than in the control group (p < 0.01). In addition, the results of growth and functional investigations demonstrated that the induced epidermal cells exhibited a high colony-forming ability, a long-term proliferative potential and the ability to regenerate a skin equivalent, which were regarded as the most important features of epidermal stem cells. These results suggest that the activation of ß-catenin favors the reversion or dedifferentiation of differentiated epidermal cells to an immature or a less differentiated state. This study may also offer a new approach to yield enough epidermal stem cells for skin regeneration and tissue engineering.

MicroRNA array analysis of microRNAs related to systemic scleroderma.

MicroRNAs are short, 18- to 25-nt sequences of noncoding, single-stranded RNA that function as regulatory molecules and participate in a series of vital processes including early development, cell proliferation, cell differentiation, apoptosis, substance metabolism and the pathogenesis of human diseases. This study compared the microRNA profiles of patients with systemic scleroderma (SSc) and healthy control individuals to investigate the pathogenesis of SSc. Skin tissue was isolated from three patients with SSc and three healthy controls. miRNA microarray chip analysis identified 24 miRNAs that were differentially expressed in patients with SSc and 6 microRNAs that may be correlated with the pathogenesis of SSc. The results of the microarray analysis were confirmed using real-time PCR. This work suggests that miRNAs may be potential diagnosis biomarkers and are likely to be involved in the pathogenesis of SSc.

Chemical analysis of Agaricus blazei polysaccharides and effect of the polysaccharides on IL-1beta mRNA expression in skin of burn wound-treated rats.

Agaricus blazei polysaccharides were analyzed by GC-MS. Results indicated that the polysaccharides contained glucose (93.87%), mannose (3.54%), and arabinose (2.25%). The compositional analysis was completed by the methylation data. These data indicated that Agaricus blazei polysaccharides are glucans. Compared to model rats, rats fed with Agaricus blazei polysaccharides showed a decrease of ratio of IL-1beta/beta-actin and IL-1beta level in skin of burn wound. Recovery rate of wound skin increased with increasing dose of polysaccharides. The results indicated that Agaricus blazei polysaccharides could be useful in promote burn wound healing.

[Migratory and chemoattractant responses of mesenchymal stem cells to oxidative stress injury of endothelial cell in vitro].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the possibilities of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) migrating toward the oxidative stress injuries of endothelial cells. METHODS: hMSCs were isolated and cultured from human marrow in vitro and the multipotential differentiation of P3 hMSCs identified by specific medium induced to differentiate into osteoblasts, adipocytes and endothelial cells. And the marker antigen of P3 hMSCs was detected by flow cytometry (FCM) and immunohistochemistry. Then a cellular model of hMSCs migrating toward the oxidative stress injuries of endothelial cells was created, i. e. 1 x 10(5) hMSCs were seeded in Transwell upper chamber, indirectly co-cultured with ECV-304 cells seeded in the Transwell inferior chamber and was injured by adding 3% H2O2 into the medium (final concentration of 0.01 ml/ml) for 1 h, the injured ECV-304 cells + hMSCs group (n = 8), as experimental group, and in the mean time, hMSCs indirectly co-cultured with uninjured ECV-304 cells in Transwell chamber, ECV-304 cells + hMSCs group (n = 8) and hMSCs monoculture group (n = 8) in Transwell chamber as control groups. After a 12-h culture in all groups, the migrating hMSCs in Transwell upper chamber were HE-stained and counted under an inverted phase contrast microscope. To understand the reason why hMSCs migrated to the oxidative stress injured endothelial cells, ELISA was employed to measure the concentration of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) of cellular supernatant in ECV-304 cells with H2O2 1-h treating group (H2O2 treatment group) or without H2O2 treating group (control group). RESULTS: The multipotential differentiation experiment demonstrated that the cultured P3 hMSCs can be induced to differentiate in vitro into osteoblasts, adipocytes and endothelial cells. And the expressions of CD29, CD44, CD90 and CD106 were positive in hMSCs while CD31, CD34, CD45 and CD49b negative by using FCM and immunohistochemistry. And the effects of hMSCs upon in vitro movement toward oxidative stress injuries of ECV-304 cells were averaged (8. 00 +/- 0.22) cells/HP in the injured ECV-304 cells + hMSCs group, significantly higher than those of the ECV-304 cells + hMSCs group [(0.20 +/- 0.05) cells/HP, P < 0.01] and the hMSCs monoculture group [(0.00 +/- 0.00) cells/HP, P < 0.01). The concentrations of MCP-1 and VCAM-1 in cellular supernatant of the H2O2 treatment group were significantly higher than those of the control group [(69.2 +/- 3.5) ng/ml vs (62.5 +/- 3.6) ng/ml, P < 0.05; (114.0 +/- 7.5) ng/ml vs (97.2 +/- 5.0) ng/ml, P < 0.01]. CONCLUSIONS: The oxidative stress injuries of endothelial cells chemoattracted the hMSCs toward the injured site and its mechanism may be correlated with releasing a certain concentration of chemoattractant factor to result in the elevations of MCP-1 and VCAM-1 by oxidative stress injury.