Dental pulp stem cells as a promising model to study imprinting diseases

Parental imprinting is an epigenetic process leading to monoallelic expression of certain genes depending on their parental origin.Imprinting diseases are characterized by growth and metabolic issues starting from birth to adulthood.They are mainly due to methylation defects in imprinting control region that drive the abnormal expression of imprinted genes.We currently lack relevant animal or cellular models to unravel the pathophysiology of growth failure in these diseases.We aimed to characterize the methylation of imprinting regions in dental pulp stem cells and during their differentiation in osteogenic cells(involved in growth regulation)to assess the interest of this cells in modeling imprinting diseases.We collected dental pulp stem cells from five controls and four patients(three with Silver-Russell syndrome and one with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome).Methylation analysis of imprinting control regions involved in these syndromes showed a normal profile in controls and the imprinting defect in patients.These results were maintained in dental pulp stem cells cultured under osteogenic conditions.Furthermore,we confirmed the same pattern in six other loci involved in imprinting diseases in humans.We also confirmed monoallelic expression of H19(an imprinted gene)in controls and its biallelic expression in one patient.Extensive imprinting control regions methylation analysis shows the strong potential of dental pulp stem cells in modeling imprinting diseases,in which imprinting regions are preserved in culture and during osteogenic differentiation.This will allow to perform in vitro functional and therapeutic tests in cells derived from dental pulp stem cells and generate other cell-types.

Effectiveness of a Single High Dose of Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Injection Over Corticosteroid and Hyaluronic Acid Injections on Osteoarthritis, Chronic Tendinitis and Tennis Elbow Treatment

Background: Corticosteroid, hyaluronic acid (HA) injections and Anti-inflammatory agents are considered as non-invasive treatments for knee osteoarthritis (OA), Chronic Tendinitis (CT) and Tennis elbow (TE) that are supposed to provide symptomatic relief and to help surgical delay intervention. Platelet rich plasma (PRP) is a biological component shown to be beneficial for different orthopedic dysfunctionalities treatment. The presence of GFs in PRPs such as transforming growth factor-β, insulin-like growth factor 1co-stimulate the mesenchymal stem cells and fibroblasts secretions and promotes the fibrin matrix formation which effectively drive the healing process, induces regenerative response and lead to the damage structure repair in orthopedics trauma. Methods: Three groups of a total of 30 patients presenting OA, CT and TE diagnosis, non-responding to corticosteroid, HA and non-steroid anti-inflammatory treatments were randomized to undergo one intra-articular injections of single high dose of PRP. The efficacy of Intra-articular PRP Injections was evaluated before the injection and one month after. The efficiency assessment score was based on [1] Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score, [2] Physical Function Short Form (KOOS-PS) Arabic (KSA) version LK 1.0, [3] HOOS-Physical Function Short form (HOOS-PS), and [4] Macdermid patient-rated Tennis Elbow. Results: A significant reduction of pain and a marked improvement in movements was observed in the 3 patient’s groups, PRP-injected patients showed significantly higher values compared with baseline: (p < 0.005 vs baseline), improve functional status and reduce clearly the articular dysfunctions over the time. In our study, single High dose injection of PRP provided an overall superior clinical improvement compared with HA and corticosteroid treatments over the time and the different follow-up checkpoints of the study.

Antioxidants from Syrah Grapes (<i>Vitis vinifera L</i>.<i>cv</i>. <i>Syrah</i>). Extraction Process through Optimization by Response Surface Methodology

In this work, optimization of phenolic compounds (PC) and monomeric anthocyanins (MA) extraction from Syrah (Sy) wine grapes (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Syrah) using response surface methodology was conducted. The comparisons between two extraction mixtures, Acetone/Water (A/W) as well as Methanol/Water (M/W) and the effects of three critical variables, Extraction Time (between 8 and 88 h), Extraction Temperature (between 1℃ and 35℃) and Solvent Content (between 63% and 97%), on Phenolic Compounds Yield (PCY), Monomeric Anthocyanins Yield (MAY) and the DPPH Free Radical Inhibition Potential (DFRIP) were studied. The highest PCY was obtained in 63% A/W solvent content after 88 h incubation at 35℃. The highest MAY was acquired in 97% M/W solvent content after 8 h incubation at 17℃. The highest DFRIP of the extract was attained using 97% A/W solvent content after 16 h incubation at 35℃. The low cost of this process, on economic and environmental levels, could lead to interesting applications on an industrial scale. It could be used to obtain bioactive phytochemicals from direct material or byproducts for either therapeutic or nutritional purposes.

Dysfunctions of the Iga system:a common link between intestinal and renal diseases

Immunoglobulin A(Iga)-isotype antibodies play an important role in immunity owing to their structure,glycosylation,localization and receptor interactions.Dysfunctions in this system can lead to multiple types of pathology.This review describes the characteristics of Iga and discusses the involvement of abnormalities in the Iga system on the development of celiac disease and Iga nephropathy.

Study of infectious conjunctivitis among children in rural areas of Qinghai province

Infectious conjunctivitis is no longer a common eye disease in cities and developed areas, but in remote mountainous regions of China where living conditions are relatively under-developed, the occurrence of infectious conjunctivitis remains a public health issue. Here, we evaluate the ratio of infectious conjunctivitis among primary school students in the rural areas of Xunhua, Huangyuan, and Huzhu Counties in the Qinghai province of China, and report the microorganisms involved in causing infection. Of the 765 eligible primary school students, 694 participated to this study(a response rateof 90.7%), 381 boys and 313 girls, with a mean age of 7.52 years(range 7–9 years). A clinical diagnosis of infectious conjunctivitis was returned for 238 of the 694 children examined. The ratio of infectious conjunctivitis in Xunhua County(46.64%) was higher compared to that in Huangyuan(26.67%; P=0.03) and Huzhu Counties(23.61%; P=0.02). The leading cause of conjunctivitis was bacterial, followed by chlamydial and viral. Our results show that there is a high ratio of infectious conjunctivitis among rural primary school students in Qinghai province.

STUDY ON BclI/St14 RFLPs IN CHINESE FOR DNA DIAGNOSIS FOR HEMOPHILIA A

The BclI polymorphism within DXS52 (St14) was reported. It was composed of 4 allelic fragments 4.0 kb, 3.3 kb, 3.0 kb and 2.3 kb, The frequency of these fragments were 0.09, 0.12, 0.44 and 0.35 respectively in the Chinese. The polymorphism provided the PIC of 0.66. DNA analysis of families, with hemophilia A showed that the confidence of the RFLPs was the same as the TaqI/St14 RFLPs and for carrier detection the former is much better than that of the TaqI/St14 RFLPs.