All-trans retinoic acid improves pancreatic cell proliferation on induced type 1 diabetic rats.

All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) has been extensively studied as an integrating component of endocrine functions in the pancreas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ATRA on physiopathological biomarkers in an experimental model of rat with type 1 diabetes induced by alloxan (T1D). Twenty Wistar rats were divided equally into five groups, each receiving a different treatment: a control group (CG), a diabetic group without T1D treatment, a diabetic group treated with ATRA, a diabetic group supplemented with vitamin E (VIT E), and a group that was given olive oil (V). The administration of ATRA for 17 days produced a significant reduction in weight and glucose levels, compared to the T1D and VIT E groups. The evaluation of total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and lipoperoxidation showed no relevant difference among the groups. The results of the histological analysis showed similarities both in the size and in the number of islets of Langerhans in the pancreatic tissue obtained from the ATRA group and the CG. ATRA displayed a significant reduction of glycemic values in diabetic rats. Ultrastructurally, ß-cells, acinar, and ductal cells restored their normal appearance. ATRA can contribute to the recovery of pancreatic damage due to alloxan induction. It seems that the antioxidant effect of ATRA is not responsible for the differences observed.

Poly(dimethyltin glutarate) as a prospective material for high dielectric applications.

Poly(dimethyltin glutarate) is presented as the first organometallic polymer, a high dielectric constant, and low dielectric loss material. Theoretical results correspond well in terms of the dielectric constant. More importantly, the dielectric constant can be tuned depending on the solvent a film of the polymer is cast from. The breakdown strength is increased through blending with a second organometallic polymer.

2.5D constructs for characterizing phase separated polymer blend surface morphology in tissue engineering scaffolds.

Previously, we used 2D films to identify an annealed PCL-PDLLA phase-separated blend morphology which provided nanoscale surface texture and patterning that stimulated osteoblast differentiation. In order to translate these 2D surface nanopatterning effects to the walls of 3D salt-leached scaffolds, the blend phase morphology of scaffold walls must be characterized. For salt-leached scaffolds, NaCl is used as a porogen, which may affect phase separation in PCL-PDLLA blends. However, it is not possible to characterize the surface blend morphology of 3D scaffold walls using standard approaches such as AFM or optical microscopy, since scaffolds are too rough for AFM and do not transmit light for optical microscopy. We introduce a 2.5D approach that mimics the processing conditions of 3D salt-leached scaffolds, but has a geometry amenable to surface characterization by AFM and optical microscopy. For the 2.5D approach, PCL-PDLLA blend films were covered with NaCl crystals prior to annealing. The presence of NaCl significantly influenced blend morphology in PCL-PDLLA 2.5D constructs causing increased surface roughness, higher percent PCL area on the surface and a smaller PCL domain size. During cell culture on 2.5D constructs, osteoblast (MC3T3-E1) and dermal endothelial cell (MDEC) adhesion were enhanced on PCL-PDLLA blends that were annealed with NaCl while chondrogenic cell (ATDC5) adhesion was diminished. This work introduces a 2.5D approach that mimicked 3D salt-leached scaffold processing, but enabled characterization of scaffold surface properties by AFM and light microscopy, to demonstrate that the presence of NaCl during annealing strongly influenced polymer blend surface morphology and cell adhesion.