Background: Bad wound healing increases the burden to the patient and health care services. So any technology that improves the healing process has the potential to save billions in annual health care costs and preserves the patient quality of life. Silver nanoparticles (AgNps) have become of interest in biomedical applications, because of their antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and anti-inflammatory activity.Aim: was to investigate the role of AgNps on the healing process of skin wounds in adult male albino rats.Material & Methods: 72 male albino rats were subjected to excisional skin wounds 1.5 cm in diameter on their mid-backs. Then rats were divided into 4 groups 18 rats each; Group I(control): skin wounds were left to heal naturally. Group II: treated with methylcellulose hydrogel, Group III: treated with silver sulphadiazine (dermazine cream) and Group IV: treated with AgNps in methylcellulose hydrogel. For each group 6 rats were sacrificed on 3rd, 7th and 14th day post-wounding. Skin specimens from all groups were processed for paraffin blocks. Sections were stained with Hx& E & Mallory's trichrome and immune-stained with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Using image analysis software, the number of macrophages, newly formed blood vessels & fibroblasts as well as area % of collagen fibers deposition were assessed and statistically analyzed. Results:In AgNps treated group re-epithelialization started on day 3 post-wounding and complete epithelialization and regeneration of the dermis was observed on day 14. The granulation tissue filling the wound area contained macrophages, newly formed blood vessels, fibroblasts and collagen fibers. The number of macrophages was statistically highest with significant difference in AgNps treated group (group IV) on day 3 post-wounding then was the lowest on days 7 and 14 compared with other groups. Neovascularization started on day 3 in all groups but was prominent on group as proved by results of VEGF immune staining. The newly formed blood vessels declined on day 14 in AgNps treated group and remained high in silver sulphadiazine group and showed maximum density in control group. The number of fibroblasts in group IV was maximum on day 7 postwounding & decreased to minimum on day 14. The percent of collagen fibers deposition was statistically maximum in AgNps treated group with significant difference across all periods of the study Human Anatomy and

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Aim of the Work: Wounds are common in clinical practice. Spirulina is analga, consumed as a dietary supplement and it is well known as apotent antioxidant. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of topical application of spirulina extract on the healing process in a rat model of excisional skin wound. Material and Methods: Seventy two adult male albino rats weighing 180200-g were used. An excisional skin wound of 2 cm diameter was performed on their mid-back. The animals were divided into four groups (18 rats per group): group I (untreated control group), group II (xanthan gum treated group); this gum was used as vehicle for spirulina.Group III(carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) treated group) which was the reference group and group IV (spirulina treated group). In II, III and IVgroups the material (0.2ml) was topically applied twice daily. The rats of all groups were sacrificed on day 3, 7 and 12 post-wounding (6 rats per day). Specimens from the site of the wound and 2 mm of adjacent normal skin were collected. Some of them werefixed in 10% neutral formalin for preparation of paraffin sectionswhich were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and Mallory's trichrome. Other specimens were fixed immediately in 2.5% glutaraldehyde and processed for scanning electron microscopic examination (SEM). Morphometric study was performed using image analyzer for the following parameters: counting the number of newly formed blood vessels, macrophages and fibroblasts and also calculating area % of collagen fibers deposition. Statistical analysis was done using ANOVA test. Results: Thehistological findings of xanthan gum group were similar to those of the control group on day 3, 7 and 12 post-wounding.On day 3 post-wounding the epidermis at the wound area was absent in all groups, but spirulina treated group showed beginning of re-epithelialization.Few inflammatory cells were detectedin the granulation tissuein the spirulina treated group while heavy inflammatory infiltrate was observed in control and CMC treated groups. On day 7 post-wounding the epidermis of the spirulina treated group showed mature differentiation and was regularly arranged in four layers unlike the immature differentiation of other groups. On day 12 post-woundingthe spirulina treatedgroup showed that the wound area was bridged by the newly formed thick epidermis with complete re-epithelializationand appearance of skin appendages (hair follicles) in contrary to other groups. In the granulation tissue the image analysis for the spirulina treated group showed a highly statisticalsignificant increase in the number of newly formed blood vessels, and fibroblastson day 3 and 7post-wounding and decrease on day 12 post-wounding. The macrophages count showed highly statistical significant increase in spirulina treated group only on day 3 post-wounding .In spirulina treated group, Mallory's trichrome stained sections on day7 and 12 postwounding revealedregular collagen fibers aligned horizontally with high statistically significant increase in area % of ...

Background The ultimate goal for wound healing is a speedy recovery with minimal scarring. Different approaches have been used for achieving this goal such as antimicrobials and cell growth promoting agents. Recently, silver nanoparticles (AgNps) have become of interest in biomedical applications, because of their antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and anti-inflammatory activity. Aim was to investigate the role of AgNps on the healing process of excisional skin wounds in adult male albino rats. Material & Methods 72 male albino rats weighing 200 g were obtained from research center, Ain Shams Faculty of Medicine and subjected to excisional skin wounds 1.5 cm in diameter on their mid-backs. Then rats were divided into 4 groups 18 rats each; control (group I) skin wounds were left to heal naturally. Other wounds were topically treated once daily with methylcellulose hydrogel (group II), silver sulphadiazine (group III), and AgNps in methylcellulose hydrogel (group IV). For each group 6 rats were sacrificed on each of the following days post-wounding; 3rd, 7th and 14th. Skin specimens from all groups were fixed in 10% neutral formalin & processed for paraffin sections which were stained with Hx & E, Mallory’s Trichrome and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Using image analysis software, number of (macrophages, newly formed blood vessels & fibroblasts) and area % of collagen fibers deposition were assessed and statistically analyzed. Results Control and methylcellulose hydrogel groups revealed almost similar results. Re-epithelialization started on day 3 post-wounding only in AgNps treated group and on day 7 in all other groups. Epithelialization was complete on day 14 only in AgNps treated group and the dermis was mostly regenerated with the appearance of skin appendages. Components of the granulation tissue varied considerably among the studied groups and across the three time points. In Hx & E stained sections the number of macrophages was highest in AgNps treated group on day 3 post-wounding then was the lowest on days 7 and 14 compared with other groups as confirmed by image analysis. Neovascularization started on day 3 in all groups but was prominent on AgNps treated group which showed high density on day 7 as proved statistically and by results of VEGF immune staining. The number of the newly formed blood vessels declined on day 14 in AgNps treated group and remained high in silver sulphadiazine group and showed maximum density in control groups. Statistical analysis proved that the number of fibroblasts in AgNps group was maximum on day 7 & decreased to minimum on day 14 compared with all other groups. In Mallory’s trichrome stained sections the area percent of collagen fibers deposition in the granulation tissue was maximum in AgNps treated group across all periods of the study compared to other studied groups. Conclusion AgNps showed advantage of rapid healing of excisional skin wounds in rats compared with traditional methods of treatment. It might be the treatment of choice particularly for high risk patients.

Purpose: Glutamate is found in a wide variety of foods, as it has been shown to have a flavor-enhancing effect. It is added to foods-either as the purified monosodium salt or as hydrolyzed protein. As Glutamate is one of contributors to retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) degeneration. Therefore the aim of the present study was to investigate the possible neuroprotective role of taurine on the rat's RGCs against glutamateinduced toxicity using histological and immunohistochemical techniques. Material and Methods: Twenty four adult Sprague Dawley male albino rats were divided into four groups. Control group: six rats were divided into two subgroups; Subgroup 1a included both eyes of three rats (6 eyes) that were left without any intervention. Subgroup 1b right eye of six rats (6 eyes) was injected intravitreally with 0.1 ml of balanced salt solution; 0.9% NaCl (BSS). Glutamate group: right eyes of 6 rats (6 eyes) were injected intravitreally with 0.1 ml of a single dose of monosodium glutamate (40 nmol/ml). Taurine group: three rats (6 eyes) received intraperitoneal injection of a single dose of taurine (25 mg / kg) B.W., which was dissolved in 1 ml of BSS and injected intraperitoneally. Combined Glutamate and taurine group: right eyes of 6 rats (6 eyes) were injected intravitreally with 0.1 ml of a single dose of monosodium glutamate (40 nmol/ml) and at the same time, each rat received a single dose of taurine intraperitoneally as in taurine group. Three days after injection, animals were sacrificed and eye balls were enucleated and processed for histological and immunohistochemical staining. Results: Extensive damage and disruption of the structure of the retina following glutamate intravitreal injection was found. The photoreceptor layer showed marked irregular appearance, vacuole formation, focal loss and wide retinal blood vessel was seen within the GCL. Complete absence of ganglion cells with the presence of small dark glial cells within the GCL were noticed. There was a statistically significant decrease in the mean total retinal thickness. Also, there was decrease in the thickness of outer nuclear layer (ONL) and inner nuclear layer (INL). In addition to decrease in ganglion cell count. A significant improvement of this picture was observed in taurine and combined groups (P-values were < 0.001). In Taurine group preservation of normal architecture of all retinal layers was observed with presence of multiple blood vessels in some retinal layers. A statistically significant increase in glial fibrillary acidic protein and synaptophysin immunostaining was seen in most retinal layers in glutamate group compared to no or weak staining in the other groups (P-values < 0.001) however, negative or faint vascular endothelial growth factor and caspase-3 immunostaining was detected in all animal groups. Conclusion: Taurine is protective to the retina against glutamate excitotoxicity and could have clinical implications in protecting the ganglion cells in several ophthalmic diseases as glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.