Social participation,social support,and body image in the first year of rehabilitation in burn survivors: A longitudinal,three-wave cross-lagged panel analysis using structural equation modeling

Introduction

Psychosocial outcomes of burn survivors in the first year of rehabilitation are not well studied. Considering the interrelationships among psychosocial processes in burn survivors, we assessed three psychosocial variables (i.e., social support, social participation, and body image) simultaneously in a longitudinal study.

Soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 and the diagnosis of sepsis

Purpose

Early diagnosis and assessment of the systemic inflammatory response to infection are difficult with usual markers (fever, leukocytosis, C-reactive protein [CRP]). Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (TREM-1) expression on phagocytes is up-regulated by microbial products. We studied the ability of soluble TREM-1 (sTREM-1) to identify patients with sepsis.

Materials and Methods

Plasma samples were obtained on intensive care unit admission from patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome for sTREM-1 measurement.

Results

Soluble TREM-1, CRP concentrations and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were higher in the sepsis group (n = 52) than in the non-infectious systemic inflammatory response syndrome group (n = 43; P = .00, .02, and .001, respectively). Soluble TREM-1, CRP concentrations, white blood cell count and ESR were higher in the sepsis group than in the non SIRS group (n = 37; P = .04, .00, .01, and .00, respectively).In a receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis, ESR, CRP and sTREM-1 had an area under the curve larger than 0.65 (P = .00), in distinguishing between septic and non-infectious SIRS patients. CRP, ESR, sTREM-1 had a sensitivity of 60%, 70% and 70% and a specificity of 60%, 69% and, 60% respectively in diagnosing infection in SIRS.

Conclusion

C-reactive protein and ESR performed better than sTREM-1 and white blood cell count in diagnosing infection.     

The protective effect of berberine against lipopolysaccharide-induced abortion by modulation of inflammatory/immune responses

Objective: Berberine is an isoquinoline derivative alkaloid with anti-inflammatory activity. In this study, we investigated the protective effects of berberine in prevention of LPS-induced abortion.

Materials and methods: On the gestation day (GD) 9.5, the pregnant mice were injected with low, medium, and high doses of berberine or with PBS. After 4?h, berberine or PBS-pretreated mice were injected with LPS. On GD 11.5, blood samples and uterine tissues were collected from treated mice and percentage of abortion and serum levels of NO, TNF-α, IL-10, and IL12p70 were measured by macroscopic examination and sandwich ELISA, respectively.

Results: Our findings show that mice injected with berberine were resistant to LPS-induced abortion. We also found that this treatment prevents the reduction of IL-10 and the enhancement of NO, TNF-α, and IL-12p70 in LPS-treated pregnant mice.

Conclusions: Taken together, our results suggest that berberine as an anti-inflammatory agent has protective effects on LPS-induced abortion by modulation of inflammatory/immune responses.     

Comparing the in vivo sonodynamic effects of dual- and single-frequency ultrasound in breast adenocarcinoma

Introduction

Dual-frequency ultrasound has recently been shown to extensively enhance the acoustic cavitation yield in water.

Methods

In this study, the in vivo antitumor effect of simultaneous, dual-frequency ultrasound at low-level intensity (I _SATA?=?2?W/cm² for 1?MHz and I _SATA?=?0.2?W/cm² for 150?kHz) in combination with an intravenous injection of 5?mg/kg hematoporphyrin (Hp) was investigated in a model of breast adenocarcinoma in Balb/c mice. Seventy-one tumor-bearing mice were divided into nine treatment groups: control, sham, Hp injection, and single- and dual-frequency sonication in the presence and absence of Hp. The tumor growth delay was then calculated based on the tumor volume at various times after treatment using the following parameters: relative volume percent, $ T_{5} $ and $ T_{2} $ times (to reach five and two times the initial volume), percent of tumor growth inhibition ratio, and survival period.

Results

Our results showed no significant difference between the 150?kHz and 1?MHz single-frequency groups when compared with the sham group after 9?days of treatment (p?>?0.05). However, treatment with dual-frequency ultrasound significantly delayed tumor growth when compared with the sham group (p?<?0.05) after 9?days of treatment. Furthermore, in vivo experiments showed that combined dual-frequency sonication controlled tumor growth more effectively than single-frequency sonication. Evaluation of the therapeutic effects of single- and dual-frequency ultrasound in sonodynamic therapy revealed that treatment with the combination of dual-frequency ultrasound and Hp resulted in a significant reduction in the relative volume percent of tumors after 3?days of treatment (p?<?0.05) compared with the controls. Additionally, the T ₅ time and the survival period in the group treated with the combination therapy was significantly longer than those in all the other groups (p?<?0.05). These findings were further verified histopathologically.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our results reveal that sonodynamic therapy using dual-frequency ultrasound is able to extend the survival time of animals compared with single-frequency sonication.     

Acidic pH derived from cancer cells as a double‐edged knife modulates wound healing through DNA repair genes and autophagy

Wound healing is a sequester program that involves diverse cell signalling cascades. Notwithstanding, complete signal transduction pathways underpinning acidic milieu derived from cancer cells is not clear, yet. MTT (3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay, fluorescein diacetate/propidium iodide staining, and cell cycle flow cytometry revealed that acidic media decreased cell viability and cell number along with enhanced dead cells and S‐phase arrest in normal fibroblasts. Notably, the trends of intracellular reactive oxygen species production and lactate dehydrogenase release significantly increased with time. It seems the downregulation of Klf4 is in part due to acidosis‐induced DNA damage. It promoted cells towards S‐phase arrest and diminished cell proliferation. Klf4 downregulation had a direct correlation with the P53 level while acidic microenvironment promotes cells towards cell death mechanisms including apoptosis and autophagy. Noteworthily, the unchanged levels of Rb and Mlh1 indicated in those genes had no dominant role in the repairing of DNA damage in fibroblasts treated with the acidic microenvironment. Therefore, cells owing to not entering to mitosis and accumulation of DNA damage were undergone cell death to preserve cell homeostasis. Since acidic media decreased the level of tumour suppressor and DNA repair genes and altered the normal survival pathways in fibroblasts, caution should be exercised to not lead to cancer rather than wound healing.