Correlation between individual inflammation genetic profile and platelet rich plasma efficacy in hair follicle regeneration: a pilot study reveals prognostic value of IL-1a polymorphism.

OBJECTIVE: Hair loss generates severe psychosocial implications. To date, exploring the prognostic factors of possible clinical benefit of autologous blood concentrate platelet rich plasma (PRP) was failed. The aim of our pilot study was to explore the correlation between the individual inflammation genetic profile and PRP efficacy in the treatment of hair follicle regeneration. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 41 volunteers (25 men, 16 women) took part in this retrospective study. All the patients were scheduled for 4 sessions of PRP application with intervals of 40-60 days. All the patients were checked up at 6 weekly intervals for 6 months and, then, at the end of the first year. A panel of 5 polymorphisms on 4 genes (IL-1a, IL-1b, IL-6, and IL-10) implicated in the individual genetic inflammation profile were performed. RESULTS: A significant increase rate in hair density was noticed after the third month of treatment in 32/41 (78%) of the subjects. We found an interesting association between the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1α polymorphism C>A (rs17561) and responders to PRP treatment. The cases carrying C/C genotype (coding for Ser114) were 21 (66%) in responders and only 2 (22%) in non-responders (p<0.05). In addition, about IL-1a, the frequency of G/G genotype in responder patients was over two times lower in responder (31%) than in non-responder patients (78%). CONCLUSIONS: Our pilot study demonstrated a correlation between the individual genetic inflammatory profile and the efficacy of the PRP treatment in males. On the contrary, in females, it showed a negative correlation. IL-1a could be used as a prognostic value for PRP efficacy. Also, these results provide preliminary evidence that may encourage the design of controlled clinical trials to properly test this modus operandi on a large number of subjects.

Flexible sixteen monopole antenna array for microwave breast cancer detection.

Radar based microwave imaging (MI) has been widely studied for breast cancer detection in recent times. Sensing dielectric property differences of tissues over a wide frequency band has been made possible by ultra-wideband (UWB) techniques. In this paper, a flexible, compact monopole antenna on a 100 µm Kapton polyimide is designed, using a high frequency structure simulator (HFSS), to be in contact with biological breast tissues over the 2-5GHz frequency range. The antenna parameters are optimized to obtain a good impedance match over the required frequency range. The designed antenna size is 18mm × 18mm. Further, a flexible conformal 4×4 ultra-wideband antenna array, in a format similar to that of a bra, was developed for a radar-based breast cancer detection system.

Soroepidemiologia da brucelose canina causada por Brucella canis e Brucella abortus na cidade de Alfenas, MG / Seroepidemiology of canine brucellosis caused by Brucella canis and Brucella abortus in Alfenas, MG, Brazil

The prevalence of canine brucellosis was evaluated in the city of Alfenas, MG through the technique of agarose gel imunodifusion for Brucella canis and slow serum agglutination test with 2-mercaptoetanol for Brucella abortus. The prevalence was of 14.2 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively, for B. canis and B. abortus. The positives, characterized by animals above one year of age (77.8 percent), and mongrel dogs (56.2 percent), showed a prevalence of 50 and 48 percent for males and females, respectively. The canine brucellosis was prevalent in the city principally in dogs of outskirts.

Effects of inducers of differentiation on protein kinase C and CMP-N-acetylneuraminic acid:lactosylceramide sialyltransferase activities of HL-60 leukemia cells.

Exposure of HL-60 leukemia cells to either 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), exogenous gangliosides GM3, GM1, or bovine brain ganglioside mixture (BBG) resulted in a marked inhibition of the growth of cells. The order of the inhibitory potency was TPA greater than GM3 greater than DMSO greater than BBG greater than GM1. In contrast, sulfatides were without effect on cellular replication. Treatment of HL-60 cells with TPA or GM3 induced differentiation along the monocyte/macrophage lineage, while treatment with DMSO induced maturation along the granulocytic pathway. These effects were accompanied by more than a twofold increase in protein kinase C (PKC) activity. In contrast, treatment with GM1, BBG, or sulfatides caused only a relatively small increase in PKC activity. The activity of CMP-N-acetylneuraminic acid:lactosylceramide sialyltransferase (ST1), a key enzyme for membrane gangliosides synthesis, in HL-60 cells was also influenced by the exposure to TPA, GM3, DMSO, GM1, or sulfatides. The inducers of differentiation, TPA and DMSO, caused an increase in ST1 activity, whereas GM3, which also induced cellular differentiation, inhibited ST1 activity, perhaps through the action of end-product inhibition. The non-inducers of differentiation, GM1 and sulfatides, also increased the activity of ST1, but to a much lesser extent. The findings suggest that the direct or indirect modulation of PKC activity by some of these agents may be involved, at least in part, in the regulation of cellular growth and differentiation. Furthermore, it is conceivable that differences in PKC activity may be responsible for the changes in ST1 activity associated with cell differentiation and proliferation.