INTRODUCTION Complex vesico-vaginal fistula (VVF) has a high recurrence rate and so the repair with graft tissues seems to be favorable. Amniotic membrane (AM) plays an increasing role as a scaffold for the repair of defect tissue due to its unique biological properties with regard to promoting wound healing. MATERIAL AND METHODS An innovative surgical procedure for AM-assisted repair of a co...

Introduction Amnion rupture in early pregnancy results in severe anomalies such as anencephaly, encephalocoele, exencephaly, acrania, facial clefts and absence of limbs (1,2). Most affected fetuses abort in the second trimester, are stillborn or die soon after birth (1,3).We report an infant with amnion rupture sequence, who survived for 9 weeks after birth. A Medline search failed to reveal do...

The role of basic fibroblast growth factor-(bFGF) induced proteinases in basement membrane (BM) invasion by bovine capillary endothelial (BCE) cells was studied using a quantitative in vitro assay previously described (Mignatti et al., 1986). 125I-iododeoxyuridine-labeled BCE cells were grown for 72 h on the human amnion BM, and cell invasion was determined by measuring the radioactivity associ...

Fetal membrane rupture is associated with increased expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and matrix degradation. We have determined the functional significance of a variable number tandem repeat and a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the MMP-9 gene on promoter activity and their association with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM). The 14 CA-repeat allele was a str...

The human amniotic membrane (HAM) is a highly abundant and readily available tissue. This amniotic tissue has considerable advantageous characteristics to be considered as an attractive material in the field of regenerative medicine. It has low immunogenicity, anti-inflammatory properties and their cells can be isolated without the sacrifice of human embryos. Since it is discarded post-partum i...

Amniotic membrane is a good protection against bacterial infections, reduces losses of proteins, fluids and electrolytes, decreases pain from burns and accelerates healing. Due to its richness in nutrients and low immunogenicity, it is often used as a skin substitute. Human amnion may be prepared in tissue banks, as biostatic or biovital grafts. There are various methods of amniotic graft prepa...

The umbilical cord tissue has gained attention in recent years as a source of multipotent cells. Due to its widespread availability, the umbilical cord may be an excellent alternative source of cells for regenerative medicine. Anatomically, umbilical cord tissue is constituted of several different parts, and, accordingly, immunostaining of cord tissue sections revealed differential distribution...