Effect of platelet-rich plasma on the healing of cutaneous defects exposed to acute to chronic wounds: a clinico-histopathologic study in rabbits.

BACKGROUND: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) contains numerous growth factors to promote wound healing and angiogenesis. The aim of this study was to gain further information about the benefits of platelet-rich-plasma for healing cutaneous acute to chronic wounds. METHODS: A total of 30 New Zealand albino rabbits (n = 15/group) were randomly assigned to two experimental groups: control group, and PRP group. Bilateral resection defects measuring 3 cm were surgically created on the dorsolateral of the cutaneous in animals and the defects were randomly divided into two mentioned groups. Wound area, neovascularization, size and epithelialization were compared on days 7, 14 and 21 post-wounding. Histopathological analyses were conducted on 15 specimens from each group after sacrifice by the cellular aspects of the regeneration of the tissue. RESULTS: Our results were indicated that the wound area of PRP was smaller than that in the non-treated group on days 7, 14 and 21. Furthermore, a significant decrease of the wound size was observed in PRP groups that were significantly greater than that in the control group. A significant increase of the mean vascular density was noted in the PRP treated groups compared to the control groups at day 14 and especially day 21. This results indicated that PRP treated group' enhanced angiogenesis at the wound beds as compared to no treatment group. CONCLUSION: These results could be useful for researchers in the growing fields of tissue repair and experimental wound healing. Further studies will be essential to determine the role of PRP in clinical practice.

Acute phase proteins in the diagnosis of bovine subclinical mastitis.

BACKGROUND: The California mastitis test (CMT) and somatic cell count (SCC) are commonly used for diagnosis of subclinical mastitis in cattle. Acute phase proteins (APPs), as alternative biomarkers of mastitis, may increase in concentration in the absence of macroscopic changes in the milk, or may precede the onset of clinical signs. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of APPs measured in milk and in serum with bacterial culture for the diagnosis of bovine subclinical mastitis. METHODS: One hundred and seventy-five Holstein cows were randomly selected from 7 dairy farms. Quarter milk and serum samples were taken from all cows. Milk samples were analyzed using a CMT and SCC, and for haptoglobin (MHp) and amyloid A (MAA) concentrations, and were also submitted for bacterial culture. Serum samples obtained concurrently were analyzed for haptoglobin (SHp) and amyloid A (SAA). Two-sample Wilcoxon (Mann-Whitney) test was used to compare SCC, MAA, MHp, SAA, and SHp concentrations between culture-positive and culture-negative animals. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis was used to assess the performance of each test using bacterial culture as the reference method. RESULTS: MAA concentration was the most accurate of the 5 tests, with a sensitivity of 90.6% and specificity of 98.3% at concentrations >16.4 mg/L. MAA and MHp had significantly larger areas under the curve than the respective serum proteins, SAA and SHp. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that measuring haptoglobin and amyloid A in milk is more accurate than serum analysis for the diagnosis of subclinical mastitis in Holstein cows.

Efficacy of polypropylene mesh coated with bioresorbable membrane for abdominal wall defects in mice.

Incisional hernias due to trauma, infection, or tumor are a common abdominal wall defect. Repair of these defects when autogenous tissue is insufficient or inadequate often results in abdominal tissue adhesion. These adhesions often lead to complications such as intestinal obstruction and enterocutaneous fistula. Previous reports have shown that application of prosthetic materials, such as polypropylene mesh and anionic polysaccharides, has been effective in reducing the amount of tissue adhesion. However, some tissue adhesion still occurs with application of these materials when previously described methodologies are used. We evaluated the efficacy of a novel surgical approach that combines the application of Sepramesh, a coated polypropylene mesh, and Seprafilm, composed of anionic polysaccharides (both products from Genzyme, Cambridge, MA), in the repair of abdominal wall hernias. We report that combined application of these 2 materials in a "sandwich technique", by placing the peritoneum between the Seprafilm and Sepramesh, further reduces (and in some instances prevents) tissue adhesion after abdominal wall defects in mice. Moreover, our combined treatment markedly decreased tissue inflammation after hernia repair.

The sensitivities and specificities of total plasma protein and plasma fibrinogen for the diagnosis of traumatic reticuloperitonitis in cattle.

We performed a prospective clinical study to select cut-off points for total plasma protein (TPP) and plasma fibrinogen (PF) to differentiate between traumatic reticuloperitonitis (TRP) and other gastrointestinal diseases with similar clinical signs, and to estimate the dependence and accuracy of TPP and PF when used in series or in parallel. TPP and PF were estimated preoperatively by refractometry in 93 cattle with TRP and 65 cattle with gastrointestinal diseases such as vagus indigestion (n = 16), liver abscesses (n = 17), omasal impaction (n = 19) and Johne's disease (n = 13). Three different cut-off points were selected by two-graph receiver-operating characteristic (TG-ROC) analysis for TPP and PF. Conditional covariances were calculated as a measure of dependence between sensitivities and specificities of TPP and PF. The cut-off points of 7.22, 7.78 and 8.82g/dl for TPP and 622, 691 and 766mg/dl for PF were suggested by TG-ROC based on different requirements of test performances. There was moderate negative dependence between sensitivities of TPP and PF at the 8.82g/dl and 766mg/dl cut-off points, and mild negative dependence between their specificities at the 7.78g/dl and 691mg/dl cut-off points, respectively. Acceptable accuracy (98 or 86% specificity with 62 or 88% sensitivity, respectively) was obtained with serial interpretation of the tests.