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Background: In addition to other variables associated with PRP injections for Knee Osteoarthritis (OA), some confusion exists about the role of exogenous activators. The current study looks at matched groups getting PRP injections with or without activator (Calcium gluconate) in early knee OA patients. Methods: Patients of early OA knee meeting inclusion criteria were randomly divided into 2 groups; Group A (43 patients) received 8 ml PRP injection alone, and Group B (48 patients) received 8 ml PRP along with 2 ml Calcium gluconate as activator. The patients were evaluated at baseline, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months for WOMAC Pain and Total WOMAC scores; secondary variables assessed were VAS score and patient satisfaction. Results: The baseline characteristics of both groups were comparable. Leucocyte-depleted PRP with 5 times concentration and average absolute platelet numbers of 7.144 billion per knee was injected. Mean Pain WOMAC scores decreased in both groups from baseline (group A—8.68, group B—9.09) to final follow-up (group A—4.67, group B—5.11). Similarly, Mean Total WOMAC scores decreased from baseline (group A—37.81, group B—37.41) to (group A—21, group B—21.36) at the final follow-up in both groups. There was no significant difference between both groups, and both showed similar trends. Similar findings were noted for VAS scores. Patient satisfaction was also not different (group A, 90.69%, group B, 89.58%) at the end of 6 months. Conclusion: Our study concluded doubtful role of adding exogenous activator to PRP preparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) toward hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) raises high hopes for disease modeling, drug screening, and cellular therapy. Various differentiation protocols have been established to generate iPSC-derived HPCs (iHPCs) that resemble their primary counterparts in morphology and immunophenotype, whereas a systematic epigenetic comparison was yet elusive. Results: In this study, we compared genome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns of iHPCs with various different hematopoietic subsets. After 20 days of in vitro differentiation, cells revealed typical hematopoietic morphology, CD45 expression, and colony-forming unit (CFU) potential. DNAm changes were particularly observed in genes that are associated with hematopoietic differentiation. On the other hand, the epigenetic profiles of iHPCs remained overall distinct from natural HPCs. Furthermore, we analyzed if additional co-culture for 2 weeks with syngenic primary mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) or iPSC-derived MSCs (iMSCs) further supports epigenetic maturation toward the hematopoietic lineage. Proliferation of iHPCs and maintenance of CFU potential was enhanced upon co-culture. However, DNAm profiles support the notion that additional culture expansion with stromal support did not increase epigenetic maturation of iHPCs toward natural HPCs. Conclusion: Differentiation of iPSCs toward the hematopoietic lineage remains epigenetically incomplete. These results substantiate the need to elaborate advanced differentiation regimen while DNAm profiles provide a suitable measure to track this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The increasing incidence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus globally has collaterally increased the incidence of diabetes-associated complications such as neuropathy. Oxidative stress induced DNA damage is one of the mechanisms implicated in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. Here we aimed to evaluate the extent of DNA damage in diabetes patients with and without clinical neuropathy using the Cytokinesis Block Micronucleus Cytome assay, in a group of South Indian population. Materials and Methods: The Cytokinesis Block Micronucleus Cytome assay was performed in lymphocyte cultures of 42 type 2 diabetes patients (22 with neuropathy and 20 without neuropathy) and 42 age and sex matched controls. Nuclear aberrations like Nuclear Buds, Nucleoplasmic Bridges and Micronuclei were analyzed. Results: The frequency of nuclear aberrations in diabetes patients with neuropathy was higher than compared to diabetes patients without neuropathy. The mean frequencies of nuclear aberrations per cell in diabetes patients with neuropathy and without neuropathy were 0.02 ± 0.02 and 0.01 ± 0.01, respectively. This was significantly higher than in the controls (0.002 ± 0.002) (P < 0.0001). An increasing trend of nuclear aberrations in correlation with the duration of diabetes was observed. Conclusion: This study highlights the use of the Cytokinesis Block Micronucleus Cytome assay as a potent tool for the identification of DNA damage, which may prove to be useful biomarker to assess the severity diabetes-associated complications such as neuropathy. Implementation of this technique at the clinical level would potentially enhance the quality of management of patients with diabetes and its complications like neuropathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]