Chitosan/Alginate Dialdehyde Multilayer Films with Modulated pH‐Responsiveness and Swelling

Oxidation of alginate is a promising method that creates aldehyde groups, which can form stable cross‐links with amine groups on chitosan. In this work, it is shown that a systematic variation in the oxidation degree of alginate dialdehyde allows for effective tuning of the swelling capacity of chitosan/alginate dialdehyde multilayer films. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the pH‐responsiveness of the multilayer films can be regulated by the choice of pH at which the layer‐by‐layer assembly is conducted. The combination of these two parameters allows for the designing polysaccharide multilayer films with a tunable degree of swelling and stimuli‐responsiveness.     

Free Zinc as a Predictive Marker for COVID-19 Mortality Risk

Free zinc is considered to be the exchangeable and biological active form of zinc in serum, and is discussed to be a suitable biomarker for alterations in body zinc homeostasis and related diseases. Given that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is characterized by a marked decrease in total serum zinc, and clinical data indicate that zinc status impacts the susceptibility and severity of the infection, we hypothesized that free zinc in serum might be altered in response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and may reflect disease severity. To test this hypothesis, free zinc concentrations in serum samples of survivors and nonsurvivors of COVID-19 were analyzed by fluorometric microassay. Similar to the reported total serum zinc deficit measured by total reflection X-ray fluorescence, free serum zinc in COVID-19 patients was considerably lower than that in control subjects, and surviving patients displayed significantly higher levels of free zinc than those of nonsurvivors (mean ± SD; 0.4 ± 0.2 nM vs. 0.2 ± 0.1 nM; p = 0.0004). In contrast to recovering total zinc concentrations (r = 0.706, p < 0.001) or the declining copper–zinc ratio (r = −0.646; p < 0.001), free zinc concentrations remained unaltered with time in COVID-19 nonsurvivors. Free serum zinc concentrations were particularly low in male as compared to female patients (mean ± SD; 0.4 ± 0.2 nM vs. 0.2 ± 0.1 nM; p = 0.0003). This is of particular interest, as the male sex is described as a risk factor for severe COVID-19. Overall, results indicate that depressed free serum zinc levels are associated with increased risk of death in COVID-19, suggesting that free zinc may serve as a novel prognostic marker for the severity and course of COVID-19.     

Enhancement of Viability of Fat Grafts in Nude Mice by Endothelial Progenitor Cells

BACKGROUND: A recent discovery showed that endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) could augment collateral vessel growth to ischemic tissues. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to demonstrate the effects of EPCs on the vasculogenesis and survival of free transplanted fat tissues in nude mice. METHODS: EPCs from human donors were cultured in vitro for 7 days. Human fat tissues were injected subcutaneously into the scalps of 20 6-week-old nude male mice. EPCs stained with CM-DiI were mixed with the transplanted fat tissues and injected into the mice. EBM-2 medium was used as control group. The animals were euthanized 15 weeks after the procedure. Graft volume were measured, and histologic evaluation was performed. The central part of fat tissues was histologically evaluated 15 weeks after the fat injection. RESULTS: The survival volume of the experimental group was significantly greater than that of the control group (p< .05). Less cyst formation and fibrosis was obtained in the experimental group. Histologic evaluation of the central part of fat tissues 15 weeks after the fat injection showed that capillary densities increased markedly in the experimental group mice. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that EPCs have the ability to enhance the survival and the quality of the transplanted fat tissues.     

Genital psoriasis: a questionnaire‐based survey on a concealed skin disease in the Netherlands

Background Psoriatic lesions may involve nearly all sites of the body. Involvement of the genital skin is frequently classified as part of intertriginous psoriasis without special awareness and treatment for this presentation of the disease. Gaining knowledge about the frequency of the involvement of genital skin in these patients will improve the overall care for patients with psoriasis. Objectives We studied the prevalence of genital psoriasis in the Netherlands and epidemiological characteristics of this specific presentation of the disease. Furthermore, we studied the relation between flexural and genital psoriasis. Patients/Methods A self‐administered questionnaire was sent to all 5300 members of the Dutch Psoriasis Society. Sociodemographic patient characteristics and disease‐related data (such as localization of psoriatic lesions, involvement of the genitalia, age at onset of genital psoriasis and severity of genital psoriatic lesions) were collected and analysed. Results A response rate of 37% was achieved. Almost 46% of the responding patients with psoriasis, that is 16.5% of all potential responders (n = 5300), report genital involvement at some time during the course of their disease. The genitalia can become affected at any age. Many patients with current genital involvement (38%) do not have the flexural skin affected. Conclusions A large part of patients with psoriasis suffer from genital psoriasis, which was not associated with flexural involvement in at least one third of them. More attention to the genital region is required in the current standard treatment of both male and female psoriatic patients at any age.     

Breastfeeding perceptions in communities in Mangochi district in Malawi

Aim: To investigate mothers’ perceptions of breastfeeding and influences from their social network. Methods: A cross‐sectional survey was carried out in Mangochi district, Malawi where questionnaire data from 157 rural and 192 semi‐urban mother–infant pairs were obtained. Results: The proportion of mothers who thought that exclusive breastfeeding should last for 6 months and those who reported to have actually exclusively breastfed were 40.1% and 7.5% respectively. Of those who reported practising exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, 77.5% stated that exclusive breastfeeding should last for 6 months. This opinion was independently associated with giving birth in a Baby‐Friendly facility, OR = 5.22; 95% CI (1.92–14.16). Among the mothers who thought that exclusive breastfeeding should last for less than 6 months, 43.9% reported having been influenced in their opinion by health workers. Infant crying was the most common (62.4%) reason for stopping exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusion: The findings illustrate the positive impact health workers can have, as well as the need to raise awareness of the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding among both health workers and mothers. Furthermore, continued counselling of mothers on how to deal with stressful infant behaviour such as crying may assist to prolong exclusive breastfeeding.