Conquering the cytokine storm in COVID-19-induced ARDS using placenta-derived decidua stromal cells.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is the most common cause of death in COVID-19 patients. The cytokine storm is the main driver of the severity and magnitude of ARDS. Placenta-derived decidua stromal cells (DSCs) have a stronger immunosuppressive effect than other sources of mesenchymal stromal cells. Safety and efficacy study included 10 patients with a median age of 50 (range 14-68) years with COVID-19-induced ARDS. DSCs were administered 1-2 times at a dose of 1 × 106 /kg. End points were safety and efficacy by survival, oxygenation and effects on levels of cytokines. Oxygenation levels increased from a median of 80.5% (range 69-88) to 95% (range 78-99) (p = 0.012), and pulmonary infiltrates disappeared in all patients. Levels of IL-6 decreased from a median of 69.3 (range 35.0-253.4) to 11 (range 4.0-38.3) pg/ml (p = 0.018), and CRP decreased from 69 (range 5-169) to 6 (range 2-31) mg/ml (p = 0.028). Two patients died, one of a myocardial infarction and the other of multiple organ failure, diagnosed before the DSC therapy. The other patients recovered and left the intensive care unit (ICU) within a median of 6 (range 3-12) days. DSC therapy is safe and capable of improving oxygenation, decreasing inflammatory cytokine level and clearing pulmonary infiltrates in patients with COVID-19.

Human embryonic stem cell-derived neural stem cells encapsulated in hyaluronic acid promotes regeneration in a contusion spinal cord injured rat.

spinal cord injury (SCI) is a traumatic damage that can causes a loss of neurons around the lesion site and resulting in locomotor and sensory deficits. Currently, there is widely attempts in improvement of treatment strategy and cell delivering to the central nervous system (CNS). The usage of hyaluronic acid (HA), the main components of the ECM in CNS tissue and neural stem cells (NSCs) niche, is a good selection that can increase of viability and differentiation of NSCs. Importantly, we demonstrate that encapsulation of human embryonic stem cell derived-neural stem cells (hESC-NS) in HA-based hydrogel can increased differentiation these cells into oligodendrocytes and improved locomotor function.

Combinational therapy of lithium and human neural stem cells in rat spinal cord contusion model.

A large number of treatment approaches have been used for spinal cord injury improvement, a medically incurable disorder, and subsequently stem cell transplantation appears to be a promising strategy. The main objective of this study is to ascertain whether combinational therapy of human neural stem cells (hNSCs) together with lithium chloride improves cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation in a rat spinal contusion model, or not. Contusive spinal cord injury was implemented on Wistar male rats. Experimental groups comprised of: control, hNSCs transplanted, lithium chloride (Li), and hNSCs and lithium chloride (hNSCs + Li). In every experimental group, locomotor activity score and motor evoked potential (MEP) were performed to evaluate motor recovery as well as histological assessments to determine mechanisms of improvement. In accordance with our results, the hNSCs + Li and the Li groups showed significant improvement in locomotor scores and MEP. Also, Histological assessments revealed that transplanted hNSCs are capable of differentiation and migration along the spinal cord. Although NESTIN-positive cells were proliferated significantly in the Lithium group in comparison with control and the hNSCs + Li groups, the quantity of ED1 cells in the hNSCs + Li was significantly larger than the other two groups. Our results demonstrate that combinational therapy of hNSCs with lithium chloride and lithium chloride individually are adequate for ameliorating more than partial functional recovery and endogenous repair in spinal cord-injured rats.

Psychometric Properties of a Developed Questionnaire to Assess Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Regarding Vitamin D (D-KAP-38).

The aim of this study was to develop a valid and reliable questionnaire to assess vitamin D-related knowledge, attitude and practices in Tehranian adults, who may be at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency. This study was conducted on 572 individuals, aged ≥20 years from public health care centers in Tehran, Iran. Based on results of a literature review and in-depth interviews, the 38-item vitamin D-related KAP questionnaire (D-KAP-38) with four subscales was developed: (1) general knowledge; (2) nutritional knowledge; (3) attitudes; (4) behaviors. Validity of the D-KAP-38 questionnaire was assessed, utilizing face, content, and construct validity methods. Internal consistency was calculated to assess reliability of the current developed questionnaire. A total of 572 (54.1% female) adults, aged 30.2 ± 7.9 years, participated in the study. All items were perceived as relevant and comprehendible by participants. Content validity was confirmed by a panel of experts. The internal consistency, as measured by Cronbach's alpha coefficients, exceeded the minimum reliability standard of 0.60 for four subscales. Exploratory factor analysis suggested a four-factor construct and the results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated acceptable fit indices for the proposed model. No ceiling effects were observed except for general knowledge (1.2%). Floor effects detected were 0%, 1.1%, 2.4%, and 8.7% for practice, attitude, general knowledge, and nutrition knowledge, respectively. General knowledge had the highest score (79.59 ± 14.52) and nutrition knowledge had the lowest (42.58 ± 20.40), among the four sub-scales. Results confirm the initial validity and reliability of D-KAP-38 questionnaire. Further investigations in different populations are recommended.