The COVID-19 pandemic has radically changed the way of life around the World. The state of alarm has forced the population to stay at home, radically changing both interpersonal and partner relationships; work at home, social distancing, the continued presence of children at home, fear of infection and not being able to physically meet with others have changed most people's sexual habits. We conducted a review by exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sexual behavior in the population from three different countries: Iran, Italy and Spain from each country's perspective. The impact of the coronavirus will be very important in the sexual life of the people and we will attend in the next months or years, to some changes in the relationships at all the levels. The pandemic will negatively affect sexual behaviors due to multiple contact restrictions. In the future, we will be able to assess these effects in more detail.
Skin is the outermost covering of the human body and at the same time the largest organ comprising 15% of body weight and 2 m surface area. Skin plays a key role as a barrier against the outer environment depending on its thickness, color and structure, which differ from one site to another. The four major types of problematic wounds include ulcers (diabetic, venous, pressure) and burn wounds. Developing novel dressings helps us to improve the wound healing process in difficult patients. Recent advances in regenerative medicine and nanotechnology are revolutionizing the field of wound healing. Antimicrobial activity, exogenous cell therapy, growth factor delivery, biodegradable and biocompatible matrix construction, all play a role in hi-tech dressing design. In the present review, we discuss how the principles of regenerative medicine and nanotechnology can be combined in innovative wound dressings.
The ability of mesenchymal stem cells
(MSCs) to enhance cutaneous
wound healing has been well established. Extensive expansion of cells
to reach sufficient cell numbers for regenerating tissues has always
limited cell-based therapies. An ingenious solution to address this
challenge is to develop a strategy to increase the immunomodulatory
effects of MSCs without expanding them. In this study, we employed
a simple characteristic of cells. It was observed that an optimized
three-dimensional (3D) MSC culture in spheroid forms significantly
improved their paracrine effects. An electrospray (ES) encapsulation
apparatus was used to encapsulate individual or 3D spheroid MSCs into
microscale alginate beads (microbeads). Furthermore, alginate microbeads
were embedded in an injectable thermosensitive hydrogel matrix, which
gels at skin temperature. The hydrogel fills and seals the wounds
cavities, maintains high humidity at the wound area, absorbs exudate,
and fixes microbeads, protecting them from direct contact with the
harsh wound environment. In vitro investigations revealed that secretion
of interleukin 10 (IL-0) and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1)
gene was gradually enhanced, providing a delivery platform for prolonged
release of bioactive molecules. In vivo study on full-thickness wounds
showed granulation and re-epithelialization, only after 7 days. Moreover,
increased expression of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA)
in the first 14 days after treatment ensured wound contraction. Besides,
a gradual decrease in α-SMA secretion resulted in reduced scar
formation. Well-organized collagen fibrils and high expression of
the angiogenesis biomarker CD31 confirmed the promoting effect of
the hydrogel on the wound-healing process. The proposed wound-dressing
system would potentially be used in scalable and effective cell-based
wound therapies.
The result obtained by two therapeutic methods indicates that combined therapy with Glucantime and pentoxifylline is more effective than Glucantime alone (P < 0.05).
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