Injectable hydrogels doped with PDA nanoparticles for photothermal bacterial inhibition and rapid wound healing in vitro.

The difficulty of wound healing due to skin defects has been a great challenge due to the complex inflammatory microenvironment. Delayed wound healing severely affects the quality of life of patients and represents a significant economic burden for public health systems worldwide. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of novel wound dressings that can efficiently resist drug-resistant bacteria and have superior wound repair capabilities in clinical applications. In this study, we designed an adhesive antimicrobial hydrogel dressing (GMH) based on methacrylic-anhydride-modified gelatin and oxidized hyaluronic acid formed by Schiff base and UV-induced double cross-linking for infected wound repair. By inserting PDA nanoparticles into the hydrogel (GMH/PDA), the hydrogel has the capability of photothermal conversion and exhibits good photothermal antimicrobial properties under near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation, which helps to reduce the inflammatory response and avoid bacterial infections during the wound healing process. In addition, GMH/PDA hydrogel exhibits excellent injectability, allowing the hydrogel dressings to be adapted to complex wound surfaces, making them promising candidates for wound therapy. In conclusion, the multifunctional injectable GMH/PDA hydrogel possesses high antimicrobial efficiency, antioxidant properties and good biocompatibility, making them promising candidates for the treatment of infected skin wounds.

Quantitative Proteomics and Functional Characterization Reveal That Glutathione Peroxidases Act as Important Antioxidant Regulators in Mulberry Response to Drought Stress.

Mulberry (Morus alba L.) has been an economically important food crop for the domesticated silkworm, Bombyx mori, in China for more than 5000 years. However, little is known about the mechanism underlying mulberry response to environmental stress. In this study, quantitative proteomics was applied to elucidate the molecular mechanism of drought response in mulberry. A total of 604 differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were identified via LC-MS/MS. The proteomic profiles associated with antioxidant enzymes, especially five glutathione peroxidase (GPX) isoforms, as a scavenger of reactive oxygen species (ROS), were systematically increased in the drought-stressed mulberry. This was further confirmed by gene expression and enzymatic activity. Furthermore, overexpression of the GPX isoforms led to enhancements in both antioxidant system and ROS-scavenging capacity, and greater tolerance to drought stress in transgenic plants. Taken together, these results indicated that GPX-based antioxidant enzymes play an important role in modulating mulberry response to drought stress, and higher levels of GPX can improve drought tolerance through enhancing the capacity of the antioxidant system for ROS scavenging.

Negative pressure wound therapy for surgical site infections: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Negative pressure wound therapy is one of the most common treatments for infected wounds. The aim of this meta-analysis was to compare the efficacy of negative pressure wound therapy with conventional treatment methods in the treatment of surgical site infection. DESIGN: This study is registered with International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews. DATA SOURCES: The Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases were searched. METHODS: The systematic review was searched by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses method. All trials reporting the use of negative pressure wound therapy for surgical site infection treatment were included regardless of surgery type. The primary outcome measure was wound healing. Secondary outcomes were length of hospital stay, medical costs, adverse events, and reoperation rates. Results are presented with 95% confidence intervals and report estimates as odds ratios. Heterogeneity was determined through the I2 test, with I2  > 50% indicating substantial heterogeneity and p < .10 significance. The search was performed on 10 March 2020. RESULTS: We identified 13 eligible trial comparisons, of which 2 were randomized controlled trials and 11 cohort study. Negative pressure wound therapy in surgical site infection (SSI) patients significantly increased wound healing rate, accelerated wound healing time, increased daily wound healing area, reduced hospital stay, and reduced adverse events. However, negative pressure wound therapy was associated with increased medical costs. CONCLUSION: Negative pressure wound therapy may be more effective for the treatment of surgical site infection relative to conventional debridement, dressings and other treatments. However, further high-quality randomized controlled trials are needed to determine the most optimal application of negative pressure wound therapy. IMPACT: Negative pressure wound therapy is the best treatment strategy for surgical site infection. This study can improve medical practitioners' awareness of negative pressure wound therapy for surgical site infection, promoting the development of relevant randomized controlled trials.

Polymorphisms in human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) gene, gene- gene and gene-smoking interaction with susceptibility to gastric cancer in Chinese Han population.

AIMS: To investigate the association of telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene polymorphisms and additional gene-gene and gene- environment interaction with gastric cancer (GC) risk. RESULTS: GC risk was significantly higher in carriers of G allele of rs2736100 than those with TT genotype (TG+ GG versus TT), adjusted OR (95%CI) =1.68 (1.26-2.17), and higher in carriers of G allele of rs2853669 than those with AA genotype (AG+ GG versus AA), adjusted OR (95%CI) = 1.72 (1.19-2.33). We also found that interaction between rs2736100 and smoking was associated with higher GC risk. Smokers with TG or GG of rs2736100 genotype have elevated GC risk, compared to never- smokers with TT of rs2736100 genotype, OR (95%CI) = 3.12 (1.82 -4.61). Pairwise linkage equilibrium (LD) analysis between SNPs was measured and the D' value between rs2736100 and rs2736109 was more than 0.8. A haplotype containing the rs2736100- G and rs2736109- A alleles was associated with a statistically increased GC risk (OR= 2.66, 95%CI= 1.28 - 4.12, p<0.0001). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1088 participants (686 males, 402 females) were selected, including 360 GC patients and 728 normal participants. Logistic regression was performed to investigate association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within TERT gene and GC susceptibility. Generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR) model was used to screen gene- gene and gene- environment interaction combinations. CONCLUSIONS: We found that G allele of rs2736100 and G allele of rs2853669 in TERT gene, interaction between rs2736100 and smoking, and haplotype containing the rs2736100- G and rs2736109- A alleles were all associated with increased GC risk.