Chilled irrigation for control of temperature elevation during ureteroscopic laser lithotripsy: in vivo porcine model

The development of new and better radioactive tracers capable of detecting and characterizing osteomyelitis is an ongoing process, mainly because available tracers lack selectivity towards osteomyelitis. An integrated part of developing new tracers is the performance of in vivo tests using appropriate animal models. The available animal models for osteomyelitis are also far from ideal. Therefore, developing improved animal osteomyelitis models is as important as developing new radioactive tracers. We recently published a review on radioactive tracers. In this review, we only present and discuss osteomyelitis models. Three ethical aspects (3R) are essential when exposing experimental animals to infections. Thus, we should perform experiments in vitro rather than in vivo (Replacement), use as few animals as possible (Reduction), and impose as little pain on the animal as possible (Refinement). The gain for humans should by far exceed the disadvantages for the individual experimental animal. To this end, the translational value of animal experiments is crucial. We therefore need a robust and well-characterized animal model to evaluate new osteomyelitis tracers to be sure that unpredicted variation in the animal model does not lead to a misinterpretation of the tracer behavior. In this review, we focus on how the development of radioactive tracers relies heavily on the selection of a reliable animal model, and we base the discussions on our own experience with a porcine model.

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Strong Antimicrobial and Healing Effects of Beta-Acids from Hops in Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus-Infected External Wounds In Vivo

Antibiotics ◽

10.3390/antibiotics10060708 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 708

Author(s):

Radek Sleha ◽

Vera Radochova ◽

Jiri Malis ◽

Alexander Mikyska ◽

Milan Houska ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Wound Healing ◽

Porcine Model ◽

Therapeutic Effects ◽

Methicillin Resistant ◽

Antimicrobial Effects ◽

Therapeutic Modalities ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Inflammatory Parameters

Staphylococcus (S.) aureus is an important causative agent of wound infections with increasing incidence in the past decades. Specifically, the emergence of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) causes serious problems, especially in nosocomial infections. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop of alternative or supportive antimicrobial therapeutic modalities to meet these challenges. Purified compounds from hops have previously shown promising antimicrobial effects against MRSA isolates in vitro. In this study, purified beta-acids from hops were tested for their potential antimicrobial and healing properties using a porcine model of wounds infected by MRSA. The results show highly significant antimicrobial effects of the active substance in both the powder and Ambiderman-based application forms compared to both no-treatment control and treatment with Framycoin. Moreover, the macroscopic evaluation of the wounds during the treatment using the standardized Wound Healing Continuum indicated positive effects of the beta-acids on the overall wound healing. This is further supported by the microscopic data, which showed a clear improvement of the inflammatory parameters in the wounds treated by beta-acids. Thus, using the porcine model, we demonstrate significant therapeutic effects of hops compounds in the management of wounds infected by MRSA. Beta-acids from hops, therefore, represent a suitable candidate for the treatment of non-responsive nosocomial tissue infections by MRSA.

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Development of a gel dedicated to gel immersion endoscopy

Endoscopy International Open ◽

10.1055/a-1396-4236 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 09 (06) ◽

pp. E918-E924

Author(s):

Tomonori Yano ◽

Atsushi Ohata ◽

Yuji Hiraki ◽

Makoto Tanaka ◽

Satoshi Shinozaki ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Electrical Conductivity ◽

Porcine Model ◽

Ex Vivo ◽

In Vitro Experiments ◽

Efficacy And Safety ◽

Coagulative Necrosis ◽

Novel Technique ◽

In Vivo Experiments

Abstract Backgrounds and study aims Gel immersion endoscopy is a novel technique to secure the visual field during endoscopy. The aim of this study was to develop a dedicated gel for this technique. Methods To identify appropriate viscoelasticity and electrical conductivity, various gels were examined. Based on these results, the dedicated gel “OPF-203” was developed. Efficacy and safety of OPF-203 were evaluated in a porcine model. Results In vitro experiments showed that a viscosity of 230 to 1900 mPa·s, loss tangent (tanδ) ≤ 0.6, and hardness of 240 to 540 N/cm2 were suitable. Ex vivo experiments showed electrical conductivity ≤ 220 μS/cm is appropriate. In vivo experiments using gastrointestinal bleeding showed that OPF-203 provided clear visualization compared to water. After electrocoagulation of gastric mucosa in OPF-203, severe coagulative necrosis was not observed in the muscularis but limited to the mucosa. Conclusions OPF-203 is useful for gel immersion endoscopy.

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Dynamic Quantitative Iodine Myocardial Perfusion Imaging with Dual-Layer CT using a Porcine Model

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-019-52458-1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kai Scherer ◽

Johannes Hammel ◽

Thorsten Sellerer ◽

Korbinian Mechlem ◽

Bernhard Renger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Contrast Agent ◽

Perfusion Imaging ◽

Porcine Model ◽

Ct Perfusion ◽

Dual Energy Ct ◽

Beam Hardening ◽

Low Contrast ◽

Time To Peak ◽

Coronary Ct

Abstract Ischemic heart disease is the globally leading cause of death. When using coronary CT angiography, the functional hemodynamics within the myocardium remain uncertain. In this study myocardial CT perfusion imaging using iodine contrast agent demonstrated to strongly improve the assessment of myocardial disorders. However, a retrieval of such dynamics using Hounsfield units from conventional CT poses concerns with respect to beam-hardening effects and low contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). Dual-energy CT offers novel approaches to overcome aforementioned limitations. Quantitative peak enhancement, perfusion, time to peak and iodine volume measurements inside the myocardium were determined resulting in 0.92 mg/ml, 0.085 mg/ml/s 17.12 s and 29.89 mg/ml*s, respectively. We report on the first extensive quantitative and iodine-based analysis of myocardial dynamics in a healthy porcine model using a dual-layer spectral CT. We further elucidate on the potential of reducing the radiation dose from 135 to 18 mGy and the contrast agent volume from 60 to 30 mL by presenting a two-shot acquisition approach and measuring iodine concentrations in the myocardium in-vivo down to 1 mg/ml, respectively. We believe that dynamic quantitative iodine perfusion imaging may be a highly sensitive tool for the precise functional assessment and monitoring of early myocardial ischemia.

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