The incidence and outcomes of delayed response to cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Background: The incidence and clinical outcomes of delayed response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) have not been well clarified. We aimed to observe the incidence and prognosis of delayed response and to identify its possible mechanisms.

Methods: A total of 115 CRT patients were retrospectively analyzed in our study.

Erythrocyte-Membrane-Coated Prussian Blue/Manganese Dioxide Nanoparticles as HO-Responsive Oxygen Generators To Enhance Cancer Chemotherapy/Photothermal Therapy.

Because of the nontargeting release of anticancer drugs, conventional chemotherapy results in serious side effects and poor therapeutic outcomes. In addition, hypoxia situation in the tumor microenvironment also promotes the growth and metastasis of tumors. Multifunctional nanocarriers with stimuli-activation and hypoxia-relieving properties can help overcome some of these limitations.

Safety evaluation of DAS-44406-6 soybeans in Wistar rats.

A 90-day in-country feeding trial in Wistar rats was conducted at Tianjin Laboratory in China to assess toxicity of diets containing DAS-44406-6 soybean meal. There were no treatment-related changes observed when compared with the non-GM isoline control groups but histopathologically, 2 of 10 high-dose females were reported to show kidney lesions. However, these findings contrasted with the absence of any treatment-related kidney lesions in 3 separate 90-day toxicity studies previously conducted in Sprague Dawley rats.

Silver Nanoparticles Reinforced (Poly-(-lysine)/Hyaluronic Acid) Free-Standing Films: The Mechanical Strength and Antibacterial Activity.

Free-standing polyelectrolyte multilayer films which are composed of biomacromolecules, such as polysaccharides and/or polypeptides, have attracted numerous attentions in biomedical fields. However, the poor mechanical strength makes their future applications difficult. In the present work, we used the pH-amplified Poly-(-lysine)/Hyaluronic acid (PLL/HA) film as the template and synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in a green way.

GMSC-Derived Exosomes Combined with a Chitosan/Silk Hydrogel Sponge Accelerates Wound Healing in a Diabetic Rat Skin Defect Model.

Delayed wound healing in diabetic patients is one of the most challenging complications in clinical medicine, as it poses a greater risk of gangrene, amputation and even death. Therefore, a novel method to promote diabetic wound healing is of considerable interest at present. Previous studies showed that injection of MSC-derived exosomes has beneficial effects on wound healing.

Efficient Suppression of Liver Metastasis Cancers by Paclitaxel Loaded Nanoparticles in PDLLA-PEG-PDLLA Thermosensitive Hydrogel Composites.

Breast and colonic carcinomas are two main origins of metastatic liver cancer. Chemotherapy, which introduces various anticancer drugs such as paclitaxel, is an important cure for patients who are not suitable for surgery and transcatheter hepatic arterial chemoembolization. However, the poor water solubility and serious side effects have limited the use of paclitaxel.

Facile Coordination-Precipitation Route to Insoluble Metal Roussin's Black Salts for NIR-Responsive Release of NO for Anti-Metastasis.

A facile and general coordination-precipitation method is developed to synthesize insoluble metal Roussin's black salts (Me-RBSs) as a new type of NIR-responsive NORMs. The weak-field ligand coordination of metal-RBS brings a NIR absorption effect of Me-RBSs, and further gives rise to the NIR adsorption-dependent NIR-responsive NO release profile. Intratumoral NIR-responsive release of NO effectively inhibits the growth and metastasis of the metastatic breast cancer.

Surface Modification of Dental Titanium Implant by Layer-by-Layer Electrostatic Self-Assembly.

implants that are composed of titanium and titanium alloys as raw materials are widely used in the fields of biology and medicine. In the field of dental medicine, titanium is considered to be an ideal dental implant material. Good osseointegration and soft tissue closure are the foundation for the success of dental implants.

A Novel MPEG-PDLLA-PLL Copolymer for Docetaxel Delivery in Breast Cancer Therapy.

Satisfactory drug loading capacity and stability are the two main factors that determine the anti-cancer performance. In general, the stability of the micelles is reduced when the drug loading (DL) is increased. Therefore, it was a challenge to have high drug loading capacity and good stability.

A porous sodium polyacrylate-grafted chitosan xerogel for severe hemorrhage control synthesized from one-pot reaction.

Controlling severe hemorrhages remains a challenge. Successful hemorrhage control depends on the speed and quality of blood clot formation. Fast deprivation of water from blood leads to the concentration of blood cells and coagulation factors and thus triggers blood clot formation.

Assessment of left ventricular contraction patterns using gated SPECT MPI to predict cardiac resynchronization therapy response.

Background: The U-shaped left ventricular (LV) contraction pattern, identified by MRI or echocardiography, is associated with improved CRT response. Gated SPECT MPI can measure both myocardial viability and mechanical dyssynchrony in a single scan. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship of the LV contraction pattern and the response of CRT in patients with left bundle branch block (LBBB).

Comparison of the effects of selective and non-selective His bundle pacing on cardiac electrical and mechanical synchrony.

Aims: This study aimed to assess the acute effect of selective His bundle pacing (S-HBP), non-selective His bundle pacing (NS-HBP), and right ventricular septum pacing (RVSP) on electrical synchrony and left ventricular (LV) mechanical synchrony using electrocardiogram and phase analysis of gated single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI).

Methods And Results: Totally 39 patients eligible for pacemaker were enrolled. Thirty-seven patients underwent successful His bundle pacing (HBP) including S-HBP in 23 and NS-HBP in 14 patients, respectively.

Multifunctional Nucleus-targeting Nanoparticles with Ultra-high Gene Transfection Efficiency for Gene Therapy.

Cancer stem cell-like cells (CSCL) are responsible for tumor recurrence associated with conventional therapy (e.g. surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy).

Intratumoral HO-triggered release of CO from a metal carbonyl-based nanomedicine for efficient CO therapy.

A new HO-responsive nanomedicine for CO therapy is constructed by effectively encapsulating the hydrophobic manganese carbonyl prodrug into an advanced hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticle carrier to realize the intratumoral HO-triggered release of CO and selective killing of tumour cells rather than normal cells, exhibiting high in vitro and in vivo efficacies of CO therapy.

Bioorthogonal Reaction-Mediated ELISA Using Peroxide Test Strip as Signal Readout for Point-of-Care Testing.

This work demonstrates a highly sensitive peroxide test strip (PTS)-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for both qualitative and quantitative detection of drugs of abuse (morphine) and disease biomarkers (interleukin-6 and HIV-1 capsid antigen p24). This color-based PTS is a commercially available product with advantages of low cost, easy operation, and portability, and it is an ideal signal readout strategy in ELISA to simplify the immunoassay procedures and enable point-of-care testing (POCT). In addition, we introduce the bioorthogonal reaction that can effectively amplify the signal by controlling the cycles of bioorthogonal reaction to achieve the desirable sensitivity depending on different analytes.

Long-Acting Release Formulation of Exendin-4 Based on Biomimetic Mineralization for Type 2 Diabetes Therapy.

Exendin-4 has been clinically exploited for treating type 2 diabetes, but the short circulation half-life and multiple daily injections limit its widespread application with respect to poor patient compliance, low efficacy, and high treatment cost. In this study, a potent long-acting release system based on biomimetic mineralization was constructed for biocompatible and sustained exendin-4 delivery. Similar to natural biomineralization, exendin-4 can be mineralized to form nanosized mineral solids by means of the reaction between acidic amino acid residues and calcium ions in a supersaturated environment with negligible influence on peptide bioactivity.

Self-Assembled Bifunctional Peptide as Effective Drug Delivery Vector with Powerful Antitumor Activity.

E-cadherin/catenin complex is crucial for cancer cell migration and invasion. The histidine-alanine-valine (HAV) sequence has been shown to inhibit a variety of cadherin-based functions. In this study, by fusing HAV and the classical tumor-targeting Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) motif and Asn-Gly-Arg (NGR) motif to the apoptosis-inducing peptide sequence-AVPIAQK, a bifunctional peptide has been constructed with enhanced tumor targeting and apoptosis effects.

Novel Approach of Using Near-Infrared Responsive PEGylated Gold Nanorod Coated Poly(l-lactide) Microneedles to Enhance the Antitumor Efficiency of Docetaxel-Loaded MPEG-PDLLA Micelles for Treating an A431 Tumor.

The combination of chemotherapy and photothermal therapy (PTT) plays a significant role in synergistic tumor therapy. However, a high dosage of chemotherapy drugs or photothermal agents may cause series side effects. To overcome these challenges, we designed a near-infrared (NIR) responsive PEGylated gold nanorod (GNR-PEG) coated poly(l-lactide) microneedle (PLLA MN) system (GNR-PEG@MN) to enhance antitumor efficiency of docetaxel-loaded MPEG-PDLLA (MPEG-PDLLA-DTX) micelles for treating an A431 tumor.

"One-for-All"-Type, Biodegradable Prussian Blue/Manganese Dioxide Hybrid Nanocrystal for Trimodal Imaging-Guided Photothermal Therapy and Oxygen Regulation of Breast Cancer.

Multimodal imaging-guided diagnosis and therapy has been highlighted in the area of theranostic nanomaterials. To provide more suitable theranostic candidates, Prussian blue (PB)/manganese dioxide (MnO) hybrid nanoparticles (PBMn) smaller than 50 nm are prepared by a one-pot method. MnO, which is reduced from KMnO, not only controls the particle size, the optical properties, and the transverse relaxation rate (r) of PB but also enhances the catalysis efficacy of PB to HO for oxygen generation.

A novel botryoidal aramid fiber reinforcement of a PMMA resin for a restorative biomaterial.

Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) resin is widely used as a prosthetic and restorative biomaterial, such as in bone cement, denture base resin, etc. The flexural and compressive strength of a PMMA resin is of great concern and many approaches have been made to improve the flexural resistance and compressive strength of PMMA. To strengthen PMMA via high-performance (HP) fibers is a feasible way; however, the HP fibers are not very satisfactory in practice, with a complex handling process and esthetic concerns.

MRI-guided and ultrasound-triggered release of NO by advanced nanomedicine.

Nitric oxide (NO) has been well identified as a specific free radical molecule possessing wide-ranging therapeutic effects. Targeted delivery and controlled release of NO are highly desired to realize precision gas therapy, but are still challenging owing to the non-targetability and uncontrollability of NO itself. Herein, we propose a new concept of MRI-guided and ultrasound-triggered gas release for precision gas therapy.

Injectable Alginate Hydrogel Cross-Linked by Calcium Gluconate-Loaded Porous Microspheres for Cartilage Tissue Engineering.

A great interest has been shown in the injectable scaffolds for cartilage tissue regeneration because it can fill irregularly shaped defects easily through minimally invasive surgical treatments. Herein, we developed a new injectable three-dimensional (3D) alginate hydrogel loaded with biodegradable porous poly(ε-caprolactone)--poly(ethylene glycol)--poly(ε-caprolactone) microspheres (MPs/Alg) as the calcium gluconate container to cross-link alginate. Suspensions of chondrocytes/alginate and porous microspheres turned into a gel because of the release of calcium gluconate; thus, the injectable composite hydrogels give a 3D scaffold to fit the defects perfectly and integrate the extracellular-matrix-mimicking architecture to efficiently accommodate cartilage cells in situ.