“
“Stent-based delivery of tacrolimus has shown neointimal

hyperplasia and restenosis reduction; FK506 is a water insoluble macrolide immunosuppressant. The purpose of this study was to evaluate acute and chronic tissue response to a polymer-free FK506 drug-eluting stent implantation in a porcine coronary artery model. Seventy-eight nonatherosclerotic minipigs underwent successful placement of 134 stents (control n = 56; FK506 (1.5 mu g/mm(2)) n = 44; FK506 (2.6 mu g/mm(2)) n = 34) at 7, 15, 30, 90, or 180 days. Endothelialisation was almost complete at 7 days, complete at 15 days. At 30 and 90 days, mean neointimal thickness, neointimal area, and % stenosis was significantly less for drug-eluting stents compared with controls. At 180 days, histomorphometric click here values were similar for eluting and control stents. The FK506-eluting stent allows for a complete re-endothelialisation at 15 days and favorably moderate neointimal hyperplasia at 30 and 90 days in the porcine coronary model. Because of a possible limited bioavailability of FK506, long-term inhibition of neointimal formation was not sustained at the considered follow-up. (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res 88A: 872-879, 2009″
“Testicular spermatozoa are

utilized to achieve pregnancy in couples with severe male factor infertility. Several studies suggest that aneuploidy rates in spermatozoa are elevated at the testicular level in infertile patients Quizartinib mw compared to ejaculates of normal controls. However, essential data regarding aneuploidy rates between ejaculated and testicular spermatozoa in the same individuals is lacking. selleck compound The purpose of our study was to compare aneuploidy rates at the testicular and post-testicular level from the same patients with persistently high sperm DNA damage. Ejaculates and testicular biopsies were obtained from eight patients with persistently high DNA damage (>30%). Both ejaculated and testicular samples were analyzed for sperm DNA damage and sperm aneuploidy for chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X, and Y. In addition, semen samples from ten normozoospermic men

presenting for fertility evaluation served as a control group. A strong correlation between the alteration of spermatogenesis and chromatin deterioration was observed in our study. In the same individuals, testicular samples showed a significantly lower DNA damage compared to ejaculated spermatozoa (14.9% +/- 5.0 vs. 40.6% +/- 14.8, P < 0.05), but significantly higher aneuploidy rates for the five analyzed chromosomes (12.41% +/- 3.7 vs. 5.77% +/- 1.2, P < 0.05). While testicular spermatozoa appear favourable for ICSI in terms of lower DNA damage, this potential advantage could be offset by the higher aneuploidy rates in testicular spermatozoa.”
“Symbiotic relationships are widespread in nature and are fundamental for ecosystem functioning and the evolution of biodiversity.