The effects of human versus mouse EGF on cell growth and culture duration were studied to optimize a human limbal stem cells culture method for therapeutical autologous transplantation. Limbal cells were obtained by trypsin digestion and transferred to a culture medium. The time needed to reach full confluence in culture was determined. Specific antibodies to corneal stem cell marker (P63) vers...

Nerve growth factor (NGF), a member of the neurotrophin family, has been identified as an essential growth factor supporting stem cell self-renewal outside the nervous system and was previously shown to stimulate corneal epithelial proliferation both in vivo and in vitro. In this study, we evaluated the expression of NGF and its corresponding receptors in the human corneal and limbal tissues, a...

The cornea is critical for normal vision as it allows allowing light transmission to the retina. The corneal epithelium is renewed by limbal epithelial cells (LEC), which are located in the periphery of the cornea, the limbus. Damage or disease involving LEC may lead to various clinical presentations of limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD). Both severe pain and blindness may result. Transplantati...

Transplantation of cultivated limbal epithelium on substrates such as amniotic membrane is an established treatment for severe ocular surface disease with limbal stem cell deficiency. In this study, we adapted an established method to generate sheets of limbal epithelium on amniotic membrane and characterized the cells contained in these sheets and tested them for safety with regard to microbia...

PURPOSE A previous report has described an ocular surface reconstruction method involving the use of cultivated corneal epithelium derived from limbal explants. In the current study, a new culture system was developed involving the in vitro propagation on amniotic membrane (AM) of epithelial cells from enzymatically dissociated limbal epithelium. The purpose of this new method is to produce a c...

hydroxymethylglutaryl co-enzyme a reductase inhibitors, also known as statins, are a class of anti-hyperlipidemic agents. these drugs have been employed vastly to reduce the morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular disorders. soon after their introduction, benefits other than their primary actions were discovered. along with these pleiotropic properties, a series of mainly favorable effects ha...

background: this study explored the state of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (hsct) recipient patients and problems experienced by them and nurse about these state and problems, in iran. methods: qualitative content analysis was used for analyzing semi-structured interviews with 12 hsct recipient patients and 18 nurses. results: three main categories described the hsct state and problem...

hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (hsct) has been practiced for more than 30 years. hematological malignanciesare the main indications for this treatment. however, its indications in adults are different from children.advances in chemotherapy and target therapy have improved treatment outcome of some of the very high riskcancers, and changed indications of hsct in children. multi-center c...

background: early clinical investigations indicate that an infusion of autologous bone-marrow cells into the infarct-related coronary artery is feasible after acute myocardial infarction. there is increasing evidence that cell transplantation may improve the perfusion and contractile function of the ischemic myocardium . the present study reports primarily the safety of intracoronary bone marro...