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Aims: Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) and pressure ulcer (PU) both are common types of ulcers worldwide. The wound healing effect of Plantago major leaves has been shown in a few animal studies. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of P. major hydroalcoholic extract on DFU and PU healing. Methods: In this clinical trial, patients with DFU or PU who met the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to drug ( P. major ) or control groups. For patients in the drug group, Plantago extract 10% topical gel was applied on the wound once daily concurrent with dressing and routine wound care for two weeks, while for the control group, an appropriate novel dressing was used along with routine wound care for the same duration. The percentage of wound size reduction at the end of the seventh and 14th days of intervention was recorded and compared between the groups. Results: Fifty and 44 patients in drug and control groups, respectively, completed the interventions. Plantago extract gel significantly resulted in more reduction in the wound size compared to control at the end of the first (64.90 ± 29.75% vs. 33.11 ± 26.55%; P  < 0.001) and second week (86.85 ± 24.34% vs. 52.87 ± 32.41%; P  < 0.001). Furthermore, the number of patients with complete wound healing in the drug group (n = 32, 64%) was significantly more than the control group (n = 9, 20.45%; OR: 3.129, 95% CI: 1.685-5.809, P  < 0.001). Conclusion: The use of 10% topical gel of P. major leaf extract results in the acceleration of DFU and PU healing. Key points: Application of P. major topical gel results in the acceleration of diabetic foot ulcer and pressure ulcer healing. - P. major extract helps reducing the wound's erythema.- P. major leaf extract assists decreasing the wound size.- The number of patients completing wound healing process is higher among whom undergoing P. major dressing., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Ethephon, a member of the organophosphorus compounds, is one of the most widely used plant growth regulators for artificial ripening. Although million pounds of this chemical is being used annually, the knowledge regarding its molecular toxicity is yet not sufficient. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential developmental toxicity of ethephon using embryonic stem cell model. The mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) were exposed to various concentrations of ethephon and the viability, cell cycle alteration and changes in the gene expression profile were evaluated using high-throughput RNA sequencing. Further, the effect of ethephon on neural differentiation potential was examined. The results showed that ethephon at noncytotoxic doses induced cell cycle arrest in mESCs. Gene ontology enrichment analysis showed that terms related to cell fate and organismal development, including neuron fate commitment, embryo development and cardiac cell differentiation, were markedly enriched in ethephon-treated cells. Neural induction of mESCs in the presence of ethephon was inhibited and the expression of neural genes was decreased in differentiated cells. Results obtained from this work clearly demonstrate that ethephon affects the gene expression profile of undifferentiated mESCs and prevents neural differentiation. Therefore, more caution against the frequent application of ethephon is advised.

In this study, a small library of polyamidoamine (PAMAM) derivatives was prepared through the conjugation of its amines with various acrylates containing 5-21 carbon chain lengths at two different conjugation degrees, and the ability of the nano-sized PAMAM-based complexes to transfer the plasmid encoding interleukin-12 (IL-12) gene into the cells was studied. As the wide clinical application of the recombinant IL-12 protein has been limited due to several deaths reported following the systemic administration of the protein, local expression of the IL-12 gene inside the tumor target has been considered as an effective alternative strategy. The idea subjacent to this type of modification was to enhance transfection efficiency by the synergistic effects of endosome buffering via the PAMAM amines and the interaction with biological membranes caused by the hydrophobic moieties grafted on the PAMAM structure. Acrylate conjugation of primary amines on PAMAM structure enhanced transfection efficiency, with the highest level of IL-12 expression occurring with the conjugates containing five to nine carbon chains on their periphery at the grafting degree of 10%. The results obtained in this study suggest that combining the cationic nature of PAMAM along with modulating the hydrophobicity of the dendrimer to achieve an appropriate hydrophobic-hydrophilic balance yields the optimal carriers for non-viral gene delivery., (© The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.)