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Background: Diced cartilage may be wrapped with synthetic or biological materials before grafting to a recipient site. These materials have unique advantages and disadvantages, and a gold standard is not available., Objectives: The authors investigated the effects of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) on the survival of cartilage grafts in a rabbit model., Methods: In this experimental study, diced cartilage pieces from the ears of 9 male rabbits were left unwrapped or were wrapped with PRF, oxidized regenerated cellulose, or fascia. Specimens then were placed into subcutaneous pockets prepared on the backs of the rabbits. The animals were sacrificed 2 months after the procedure, and the grafts were excised for macroscopic and histopathologic examination., Results: The cartilage graft wrapped with PRF showed superior viability compared with the cartilage graft wrapped with oxidized regenerated cellulose. No significant differences were found among the other groups. The groups were not significantly different in terms of rates of inflammation, fibrosis, or vascularization., Conclusions: PRF enhances the viability of diced cartilage grafts and should be considered an appropriate biological wrapping material for cartilage grafting., (© 2016 The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Inc. Reprints and permission: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Thymoquinone (TQ) is a plant extract that has been shown to have antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant effects. Because of these activities, the authors hypothesized that TQ would reduce inflammation and oxidative stress and accelerate wound closure in a rat model of deep second-degree burns. For the purposes of this study, 40 Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups of eight rats each. Group 1 was the control group, group 2 was the silver sulfadiazine group, group 3 was treated with systemic TQ, group 4 received topical TQ, and group 5 was administered topical and systemic TQ. After the deep second-degree burn damage was created, daily dressing changes and TQ administration were continued in the study groups for a period of 21 days. Systemic TQ was administered intraperitoneally at a dose of 2 mg/kg/day, whereas the topical treatment was applied using a 0.5% solution. The changes in the wound site were observed macroscopically, histopathologically, microbiologically, and biochemically in all groups. The smallest necrotic areas were observed at the end of the study in the groups that were administered a combination of systemic and topical TQ, or solely topical TQ (6.1 ± 1.6 cm and 6.7 ± 0.4 cm, respectively), whereas the largest necrotic areas were observed in the control group (11.2 ± 1.2cm). The total antioxidant state levels in the control group were significantly lower than in the other groups (P < .05), whereas the total oxidative stress levels were lower in the TQ groups compared with the control group (P < .05). The lowest bacterial counts were observed in the groups treated with both topical and systemic TQ (P < .05). TQ given systemically and/or topically reduced inflammation and oxidative stress and accelerated the rate of wound closure or reepithelialization.

The importance of oxygen in wound healing and the negative effects of cigarette smoking have been demonstrated in various studies. In this study, our aim was to investigate the effect of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) treatment on wound healing in nicotinized and nonnicotinized rats. The study was conducted on 32 Sprague Dawley rats. The rats were divided into four groups, with eight rats in each: group 1, nonnicotinized rats; group 2, nonnicotinized rats treated with HBO2; group 3, nicotinized rats; and group 4, nicotinized rats treated with HBO2. To prepare the nicotinized groups, the rats were given nicotine for 28 days. At the end of day 28, standard, deep, second-degree to third-degree burns were created on the rats. The HBO2-treated groups underwent HBO2 treatment once a day for 7 days after the creation of the burn damage. All rats were killed 21 days after injury, and the burns were subjected to macroscopic, histopathological, and microbiological evaluation. During this evaluation, the smallest necrotic areas and the lowest rate of fibrosis were observed in group 2. The largest necrotic areas and the highest inflammation and fibrosis rates were observed in the nicotine-treated group 3. When the nicotinized and nonnicotinized groups were compared separately, there was a significant difference in favor of the groups treated with HBO2. Bacterial growth was the highest in the nicotinized group 3, whereas no statistically significant difference was observed among the other groups. We conclude that HBO treatment accelerates the recovery of burn wounds and provides more effective healing by reducing the development of scars both in nicotinized and nonnicotinized rats.

This study examines a radiation-induced invasion and spread of Schwann cells into ventral gray regions of the lumbar spinal cord. The prevalence of these cells within the gray matter and the time course of their appearance in the ventral spinal cord is quite different from the pattern of Schwann cell development in dorsal spinal cord reported previously. The focus is on 2 possible pathways, each involving astrocytic barriers, by which Schwann cells access the ventral gray matter. The first of these is the glia limitans covering the ventral surface of the spinal cord and the possibility that its integrity has been disrupted by the exposure to x-rays. Comparisons of the glia limitans, including its thickness, between irradiated and nonirradiated rats revealed that exposure to radiation did not result in any morphologically discernible alterations. The second barrier examined was the astrocytic covering of blood vessels. In irradiated animals the astrocyte processes that normally surround blood vessels were missing in some instances, and Schwann cells were observed at these sites. The difference between the dorsal and ventral occurrence of Schwann cells is that, whereas Schwann cells primarily follow axons, specifically dorsal root axons, to access the dorsal spinal cord, it appears that the presence of Schwann cells in the ventral portion of the spinal cord where their location is primarily in the gray matter is associated with the vasculature.