Tumor Cell-stromal Interactions in Lung Cancer

It is well known that tumors establish themselves and progress within a tissue microenvironment that includes host stromal cells and extracellular matrices. However, the impact that the composition of the extracellular     

Application of Tissue Engineering to Pelvic Organ Prolapse and Stress Urinary Incontinence

Synthetic or biological materials can be used for the surgical repair of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) or stress urinary incontinence (SUI). While non‐degradable synthetic mesh has a low failure rate, it is prone to complications such as infection and erosion, particularly in the urological/gynecological setting when subject to chronic influences of gravity and intermittent, repetitive strain. Biological materials have lower complication rates, although allografts and xenografts have a high risk of failure and the theoretical risk of infection. Autografts are used successfully for the treatment of SUI and are not associated with erosion; however, can lead to morbidity at the donor site. Tissue engineering has thus become the focus of interest in recent years as researchers seek an ideal tissue remodeling material for urogynecological repair. Herein, we review the directions of current and future research in this exciting field. Electrospun poly‐L‐lactic acid (PLA) and porcine small intestine submucosa (SIS) are two promising scaffold material candidates. Adipose‐derived stem cells (ADSCs) appear to be a suitable cell type for scaffold seeding, and cells grown on scaffolds when subjected to repetitive biaxial strain show more appropriate biomechanical properties for clinical implantation. After implantation, an appropriate level of acute inflammation is important to precipitate moderate fibrosis and encourage tissue strength. New research directions include the use of bioactive materials containing compounds that may help facilitate integration of the new tissue. More research with longer follow‐up is needed to ascertain the most successful and safe methods and materials for pelvic organ repair and SUI treatment.     

ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION AND GUSTATORY HEDONIC PROFILES IN WISTAR-KYOTO HYPER- AND NORMOACTIVE RAT STRAINS

The purpose of the present study was to compare the consummatorybehaviour of rats of the Wistar—Kyoto Hyperactive (WKHA)strain, selected for their hyperactivity in a novel environment,with the normoactive Wistar—Kyoto (WKY) rats in threechoice tasks: between water and increasing concentrations ofsaccharin, between water and increasing concentrations of quinine,and between water and a 10% (v/v) ethanol solution. The resultsof the present study show that: (1) WKHA rats exhibited a significantlyhigher acceptance of a 10% (v/v) alcohol solution than the normoactivecontrol WKY rats when alcohol solution was the only availablefluid; (2) WKHA rats also showed significantly larger alcoholintakes during the 15 days of choice between water and alcohol(WKY: 0.39±0.05; WKHA: 1.72±0.26 g/kg/day); (3)as frequently cited in the literature for other strains, thehigher level of alcohol ingestion of WKHA rats was associatedwith a higher preference for saccharin; (4) no strain differenceswere observed in the water-quinine choice test. The discussionis mainly centred on the small alcohol consumption of the twostrains, since the intake of WKHA rats is in the normal rangefor consumption of outbred strains, while the amount of alcoholconsumption of WKY rats is very low and in the range of alcoholintake of non-preferring rat strains. It is concluded that thedifference in alcohol consumption is mainly due to the low intakeof the WKY rats and it is suggested that their different levelof consumption might result from the particular behaviouralprofile of these rats.