Preclinical Study to Evaluate the Effects of a Soft Handkerchief in Nasolabial Skin Barrier

People suffering from an ordinary acute cold consume so many handkerchiefs that the wiping actions on their own increase the abrasive damage of the nasolabial zone, finally leading to a disturbed barrier function and inflamation. It seems that the quality of the material used for nose cleansing could play an important role and that innovative handkerchiefs would fulfil a preventive role in minimizing the damaging effect of theskin barrier function of the nasolabial zone during this conditions. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of a wet handkerchief (SKNW) on the skin barrier balance by measuring filaggrin and histamine using an experimental model of ex vivo native human skin model and the interference of this handkerchief in the skin microbiota through in vitro screening. SKNW showed an increase in the production of filaggrin and a reduction of histamine synthesis in human explants subjected to barrier disruption with 5% Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. Additionaly, SKNW showed a mild and moderate antiseptic action on the evaluated microorganisms. This study demonstrated that SKNW could be considered a feasible option for consecutive wiping of nasolabial zone avoiding the transient mechanical dermatitis, considering its skin barrier protective, non-irritating and antiseptic actions.

Optimization of Lyophilized Hyperacute Serum (HAS) as a Regenerative Therapeutic in Osteoarthritis

Hyperacute serum (HAS) is a blood derivative product that promotes the proliferation of various cell types and controls inflammation in vitro. The aim of this study is to investigate the regenerative potential of different formulations of HAS, including lyophilized and hyaluronic acid combined versions, to obtain a stable and standardized therapeutic in osteoarthritis (OA), which may be able to overcome the variability limitations of platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Primary human osteoarthritic chondrocytes were used for testing cellular viability and gene expression of OA-related genes. Moreover, a co-culture of human explants of cartilage, bone and synovium under inflammatory conditions was used for investigating the inflammatory control capacities of the different therapeutics. In this study, one formulation of lyophilized HAS achieved the high cell viability rates of liquid HAS and PRP. Gene expression analysis showed that HAS induced higher Col1a1 expression than PRP. Cytokine quantification from supernatant fluids revealed that HAS treatment of inflamed co-cultures significantly reduced levels of IL-5, IL-15, IL-2, TNFα, IL-7 and IL-12. To conclude, lyophilized HAS is a stable and standardized therapeutic with high potential in joint regeneration.

Primary ectocervical epithelial cells display lower permissivity to Chlamydia trachomatis than HeLa cells and a globally higher pro-inflammatory profile

The tumoral origin and extensive passaging of HeLa cells, a most commonly used cervical epithelial cell line, raise concerns on their suitability to study the cell responses to infection. The present study was designed to isolate primary epithelial cells from human ectocervix explants and characterize their susceptibility to C. trachomatis infection. We achieved a high purity of isolation, assessed by the expression of E-cadherin and cytokeratin 14. The infectious progeny in these primary epithelial cells was lower than in HeLa cells. We showed that the difference in culture medium, and the addition of serum in HeLa cultures, accounted for a large part of these differences. However, all things considered the primary ectocervical epithelial cells remained less permissive than HeLa cells to C. trachomatis serovar L2 or D development. Finally, the basal level of transcription of genes coding for pro-inflammatory cytokines was globally higher in primary epithelial cells than in HeLa cells. Transcription of several pro-inflammatory genes was further induced by infection with C. trachomatis serovar L2 or serovar D. In conclusion, primary epithelial cells have a strong capacity to mount an inflammatory response to Chlamydia infection. Our simplified purification protocol from human explants should facilitate future studies to understand the contribution of this response to limiting the spread of the pathogen to the upper female genital tract.