Hydrogels in Burn Wound Management-A Review.

Inert hydrogels are of a great importance in burn first aid. Hydrogel dressings may be an alternative to cooling burn wounds with streaming water, especially in cases of mass casualty events, lack of clean water, hypothermia, or large extent of burns. Hydrogels that contain mostly water evacuate the heat cumulating in the skin by evaporation. They not only cool the burn wound, but also reduce pain and protect the wound area from contamination and further injuries. Hydrogels are ideally used during the first hours after injury, but as they do not have antimicrobial properties per se, they might not prevent wound infection. The hydrogel matrix enables incorporating active substances into the dressing. The active forms may contain ammonium salts, nanocrystal silver, zinc, growth factor, cytokines, or cells, as well as natural agents, such as honey or herbs. Active dressings may have antimicrobial activity or stimulate wound healing. Numerous experiments on animal models proved their safety and efficiency. Hydrogels are a new dressing type that are still in development.

Correction: Surowiecka et al. Hydrogels in Burn Wound Management-A Review. Gels 2022, 8, 122.

In the original publication, there was a mistake in Table 2 as published [...].

Dendritic Cells Are Associated with Prognosis and Survival in Breast Cancer.

Dendritic cells (DCs) constitute a part of the tumour microenvironment, but we are still far from understanding their complex role in immune response to the tumour. This study aimed to investigate the density of DCs expressing CD1a, CD83, CD123, DC-LAMP3 (CD208) and DC-SIGN (CD209) in breast cancer. The correlations between DC density and molecular subtype of breast cancer, its hormone receptor status, spatial location and their associations with clinical and pathological prognostic factors were evaluated. We have shown that intratumoural CD1a+ cells were significantly associated with progression-free survival. For LAMP3+ and CD123+ DCs, higher cell densities were associated with non-luminal as compared to luminal cancer phenotype. In contrast, dense CD83+ DC infiltrate was observed in luminal tumours. The number of CD1a+ DCs in both locations was the highest in luminal B/HER2+ cancers. The highest positive cell count of LAMP3+ cells was observed in the triple-negative subtype in both locations. We found higher numbers of LAMP3+ DCs both intratumourally and at the invasive margin, as well as CD123+ DCs intratumourally in tumours with negative expression of oestrogen or progesterone receptors. Our study demonstrates associations between DC subpopulations and histological and clinical characteristics, as well as molecular subtypes in breast carcinoma.

Decreased Levels of Histidine-Rich Glycoprotein in Advanced Lung Cancer: Association with Prothrombotic Alterations.

BACKGROUND: Histidine-rich glycoprotein (HRG) displays anticoagulant and antifibrinolytic properties in animal models, but its effects in humans are unclear. We investigated serum HRG levels and their associations with the disease stage and prothrombotic alterations in lung cancer (LC) patients. METHODS: In 148 patients with advanced LC prior to anticancer therapy (87 non-small-cell LC and 61 small-cell LC) versus 100 well-matched controls, we measured HRG levels in association with clot permeability (K s), clot turbidimetry (lag phase and maximum absorbance), and clot lysis time (CLT). RESULTS: Compared to controls, LC patients had 45.9% lower HRG levels with no associations with demographics and comorbidities. Decreased HRG, defined as the 90th percentile of control values (<52.7 µg/ml), was 16 times more common in subjects with than without LC (OR = 16.4, 95% CI 9.2-23.5, p < 0.01). HRG < 38 µg/ml discriminated stage IIIAB/limited disease from IV/extensive disease (ED) LC. In LC patients, HRG correlated inversely with CLT (r = -0.41, p < 0.001), but not with other fibrin variables. Among stage IV/ED LC, HRG correlated significantly with K s and lag phase (r = 0.28 and r = 0.33, respectively, both p < 0.001). LC patients with low K s (10th percentile of control values) combined with prolonged CLT (90th percentile of control values) had reduced HRG levels compared to the remainder (p = 0.003). No such observations were noted in controls. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first to show that decreased HRG levels occur in advanced LC and are associated with the disease stage and hypofibrinolysis.

Cardiovascular response to different types of acute stress stimulations.

INTRODUCTION: Stress is an ubiquitous phenomenon in the modern world and one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. e aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of various acute stress stimuli on autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity, assessed on the basis of heart rate (HRV) and blood pressure (BPV) variability analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: the study included 15 healthy volunteers: 9 women, 6 men aged 20-30 years (23.3 ± 1.8). ANS activity was assessed by HRV and BPV measurement using Task Force Monitor 3040 (CNSystems, Austria). ECG registration and Blood Pressure (BP) measurement was done 10 minutes at rest, 10 minutes a er the stress stimulus (sound signal, acoustic startle, frequency 1100 Hz, duration 0.5 sec, at the intensity 95 dB) and 10 minutes after the cold pressor test. The cold pressor test (CPT) was done by placing the person's hand by wrist in ice water (0-4°C) for 120 s. RESULTS: Every kind of stress stimulation (acoustic startle; the CPT) caused changes of HRV indicator values. The time domain HRV analysis parameters (pNN50, RMSSD) decreased after acoustic stress and the CPT, but were significantly lower after the CPT. In frequency domain HRV analysis, significant differences were observed only after the CPT: (LF-RRI 921.23 ms2 vs. 700.09 ms2; p = 0.009 and HF-RRI 820.75 ms2 vs. 659.52 ms2; p = 0.002). The decrease of LF-RRI and HF-RRI value after the CPT was significantly higher than after the acoustic startle (LF-RRI 34% vs. 0.4%, p = 0.022; HF-RRI 19.7% vs. 7% ms2, p = 0.011). The decreased value of the LF and HF components of HRV analysis are indicative of sympathetic activation. Nonlinear analysis of HRV indicated a significant decrease in the Poincare plot SD1 (p = 0.039) and an increase of DFAα2 (p = 0.001) in response to the CPT stress stimulation. The systolic BPV parameter LF/HF-sBP increased significantly after the CPT (2.84 vs. 3.31; p = 0.019) and was higher than after the acoustic startle (3.31 vs. 3.06; p = 0.035). Significantly higher values of diastolic BP (67.17 ± 8.10 vs. 69.65 ± 9.94 mmHg, p = 0.038) and median BP (83.39 ± 8.65 vs. 85.30 ± 10.20 mmHg, p = 0.039) were observed in the CPT group than in the acoustic startle group. CONCLUSIONS: the Cold Pressor Test has a greater stimulatory effect on the sympathetic autonomic system in comparison to the unexpected acoustic startle stress. Regardless of whether the stimulation originates from the central nervous system (acoustic startle) or the peripheral nervous system (CPT), the final response is demonstrated by an increase in the low frequency components of blood pressure variability and a decrease in the low and high frequency components of heart rate variability.

Non-endometrioid and high-grade endometrioid endometrial cancers show DNA fragmentation factor 40 (DFF40) and B-cell lymphoma 2 protein (BCL2) underexpression, which predicts disease-free and overall survival, but not DNA fragmentation factor 45 (DFF45) underexpression.

BACKGROUND: The expression of DNA fragmentation factor 45 (DFF45) and B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2) in glands of the normal human endometrium is related to phases of the menstrual cycle and decreases after menopause, whereas the expression of DNA fragmentation factor 40 (DFF40) is stable. Moreover, DF45, BCL2 and DFF40 underexpression has been reported in numerous malignancies, including uterine leiomyosarcomas. In this study, we aimed to investigate DFF45, BCL2 and DFF40 expression in endometrioid and non-endometrioid types of endometrial cancers (ECs). We also evaluated the correlations between DFF45, BCL2 and DFF40 expression levels and clinicopathological parameters and determined the value of these three proteins as prognostic markers of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). METHODS: Immunohistochemistry was performed to evaluate DFF45, BCL2 and DFF40 expression in 342 cases of ECs. Student's t-test, the Mann-Whitney U-test, and the chi-squared test were used for the statistical analyses as appropriate. The Cox-Mantel test, Cox's proportional hazard model, and relative risk analyses were used to evaluate associations between DFF40, DFF45, and BCL2 expression and clinicopathological characteristics. RESULTS: DFF40 and BCL2, but not DFF45, were significantly underexpressed in non-endometrioid and high-grade endometrioid ECs compared with low- and moderate-grade endometrioid ECs. Women with DFF40- and BCL2-negative tumors had higher risks of disease recurrence, lymph node involvement, lympho-vascular space infiltration, and deep myometrial invasion compared with women with DFF40- and BCL2-positive tumors. Additionally, women with DFF40- and BCL2-negative tumors had significantly lower OS and DFS than women with DFF40- and BCL2-positive tumors. A multivariable analysis of the model, including the clinicopathological characteristics and immunohistochemical results, showed that negative BCL2 expression, lymph node involvement, and high-stage and high-grade disease were independent predictors of OS, whereas negative BCL2 expression, lymph node involvement, and high-stage disease were independent predictors of DFS. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with low- and moderate-grade endometrioid ECs, non-endometrioid and high-grade endometrioid ECs showed significant DFF40 and BCL2 underexpression. The absence of DFF40 and BCL2 expression negatively affects DFS and OS. Further prospective studies are warranted to assess the potential utility of DFF40 and BCL2 as targets in the diagnosis or treatment of ECs.