Engineered cardiac tissues derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are increasingly used for drug discovery, pharmacology and in models of development and disease. While there are numerous platforms to engineer cardiac tissues, they often require expensive and nonconventional equipment and utilize complex video-processing algorithms. As a result, only specialized academic laboratories have been able to harness this technology. In addition, methodologies and tissue features have been challenging to reproduce between different groups and models. Here, we describe a facile technology (milliPillar) that covers the entire pipeline required for studies of engineered cardiac tissues. We include methodologies for (i) platform fabrication, (ii) cardiac tissue generation, (iii) electrical stimulation, (iv) automated real-time data acquisition, and (v) advanced video analyses. We validate these methodologies and demonstrate the versatility of the platform by showcasing the fabrication of tissues in different hydrogel materials and using cardiomyocytes derived from different iPSC lines in combination with different types of stromal cells. We also validate the long-term culture of tissues within the platform and provide protocols for automated analysis of force generation and calcium flux using both brightfield and fluorescence imaging. Lastly, we demonstrate the compatibility of the milliPillar platform with electromechanical stimulation to enhance cardiac tissue function. We expect that this resource will provide a valuable and userfriendly tool for the generation and real-time assessment of engineered human cardiac tissues for basic and translational studies.
Objective: To describe the prevalence of oral manifestations of hypophosphatemic rickets in patients treated in a Peruvian referral pediatric hospital during the years 2012-2016. Material and methods: An observational, descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional study was carried out. The sample consisted of patients diagnosed with hypophosphatemic rickets who attended the outpatient clinic of the Stomatology Service and the Genetics Service of the National Institute of Child Health (INSN), Lima, Peru, between the years 2012-2016. The research project was assessed and approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Health Service. Medical records stored in a database of the health institution with the Code CIE E83.3, which corresponds to the diagnosis of Hypophosphatemic Rickets, were requested for the study. Results: Fifteen children received health care, of which only 10 were treated at the Stomatology Service. The distribution of the data was obtained from these 10 patients according to the proposed objective. A higher frequency of gingival lesions was found at the soft tissue level (41.18%); at the bone tissue level, only one case of dentigerous cyst was observed; and at the dental level, 90% of the patients had dental caries. Conclusion: The most frequent oral manifestations of hypophosphatemic rickets in pediatric patients treated at the National Institute of Child Health (2012-2016) were gingivitis and dental caries.
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