Wound healing is a dynamic process involving tissue repair and regeneration. Nonhealing and chronic wounds are a significant health problem that many patients all over the world are suffering from. Proper wound care is hence very important. Wound dressings have undergone continuous and significant changes over the time period. Optimal dressing should ensure a moist wound bed, help drainage, remove debris, and be anti-allergic and without immunogenicity. The objective of the study is compare the effect of pH modulation on wound healing with topical application of citric acid versus superoxide ions. The aim is to study the efficacy and safety of citric acid versus superoxide ions in the prevention and control of infection and their effect on wound healing in similar wound types. We conducted randomized, prospective comparative study in a total of 100 patients admitted at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, attached to Government Medical College, Amritsar. The patients were divided into two groups: Group A where wound management was done using superoxide ions and Group B where citric acid was used. A standard grading was done in terms of a decrease in wound size, an increase in granulation tissue, and a reduction in wound discharge. The wounds treated with citric acid showed an average reduction in wound size of 73.43% by the 14th day as compared to 66.52% in the control group. The difference seen in the average reduction of wound size was statistically significant (P = 0.032). The wounds treated by citric acid application showed an average increase in granulation tissue of 56.66% as compared to 50.87% in the wounds treated by superoxide ions. The average hospital stay in patients of Group B was comparatively less than that of patients in Group A. Citric acid is safe and effective in all types of wound management and gives better efficacy and faster response as compared to superoxide ions. Citric acid promotes wound healing by the formation of granulation tissue and fibroblast proliferation.
Tuberculosis is one of the major causes of ill health and death worldwide. Isolated tuberculosis of tonsil in the absence of active pulmonary tuberculosis is a rare clinical entity. It may mimic malignancy. Patient seeks Doctors advice due to painful deglutition and pain in throat. Diagnosis of tonsillar tuberculosis is based on histopathological findings and the identification of tubercle bacilli. Early detection and intervention may have significant health benefits for the individual infected as well as for public health. Treatment is in the form of anti-tubercular therapy with good results. We present a case of 36 years old male with unilateral tonsillar enlargement, diagnosed as primary tuberculosis of tonsil on histopathology examination. Due to its rarity, we present this case.
The most abundant green tea polyphenol, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), was found to induce differential effects between tumor cells and normal cells. Nevertheless, how normal epithelial cells respond to the polyphenol at concentrations for which tumor cells undergo apoptosis is undefined. The current study tested exponentially growing and aged primary human epidermal keratinocytes in response to EGCG or a mixture of the four major green tea polyphenols. EGCG elicited cell differentiation with associated induction of p57/KIP2 within 24 h in growing keratinocytes, measured by the expression of keratin 1, filaggrin, and transglutaminase activity. Aged keratinocytes, which exhibited low basal cellular activities after culturing in growth medium for up to 25 days, renewed DNA synthesis and activated succinate dehydrogenase up to 37-fold upon exposure to either EGCG or the polyphenols. These results suggest that tea polyphenols may be used for treatment of wounds or certain skin conditions characterized by altered cellular activities or metabolism.
Background: Soft-tissue infections vary widely in their nature and severity. A clear approach to the management must allow their rapid identification and treatment as they can be life-threatening. Objective: Clinical presentation of soft-tissue infections and its management. Materials and Methods: A prospective study based on 100 patients presenting with soft-tissue infections was done. All the cases of soft-tissue infections were considered irrespective of age, sex, etiological factors, or systemic disorders. The findings were evaluated regarding the pattern of soft-tissue infections in relation to age and sex, clinical presentation, complications, duration of hospital stay, management, and mortality. Results: The most commonly involved age group was in the range of 41–60 years with male predominance. Abscess formation (45%) was the most common clinical presentation. Type 2 diabetes mellitus was the most common associated comorbid condition. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common culture isolate obtained. The most common complication seen was renal failure. Patients with surgical site infections had maximum duration of stay in the hospital. About 94% of the cases of soft-tissue infections were managed surgically. Mortality was mostly encountered in the cases of complications of cellulitis. Conclusion: Skin and soft-tissue infections are among the most common infections encountered by the emergency physicians. Ignorance, reluctance to treatment, economic constraints, and illiteracy delay the early detection and the initiation of proper treatment. Adequate and timely surgical intervention in most of the cases is of utmost importance to prevent the complications and reduce the mortality.
The green tea polyphenol (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) possesses promising anticancer potential. Although in vivo studies unveiled the metabolic routes and pharmacokinetics of EGCG and showed no adverse effects, in vitro studies at high concentrations demonstrated oxidative stress. EGCG causes differential oxidative environments in tumor versus normal epithelial cells, but the roles that EGCG, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and intracellular catalase play in the epithelial system are largely unknown. The current study employed enzyme activity assays, reactive oxygen species quantification, and immunoblotting to investigate whether EGCG-induced differential effects correlate with levels of key antioxidant enzymes and H2O2. It was found that normal human keratinocytes with high catalase activity are least susceptible to H2O2, whereas H2O2caused significant cytotoxicity in oral carcinoma cell lines. However, the EGCG-induced differential effects could not be duplicated by H2O2alone. The addition of exogenous catalase failed to completely prevent the EGCG-induced cytotoxicity and rescue the EGCG-induced growth arrest in the tumor cells. The antioxidant N-acetyl-l-cysteine rescued the tumor cells from H2O2-induced damage only, but not from EGCG-induced mitochondrial damage. Finally, alterations in catalase or superoxide dismutase activities were not observed upon EGCG exposure. In conclusion, although endogenous catalase may play a role in response to H2O2-induced cytotoxicity, the EGCG-induced cytotoxic effects on tumor cells mainly result from sources other than H2O2.
Exposure to ionizing radiation disrupts metabolic pathways and causes oxidative stress, which can lead to organ damage. In this study, urinary metabolites from mice exposed to high-dose and low-dose whole-body irradiation (WBI HDR, WBI LDR) or partial-body irradiation (PBI BM2.5) were analyzed using targeted and untargeted metabolomics approaches. Significant metabolic changes particularly in oxidative stress pathways were observed on Day 2 post-radiation. By Day 30, the WBI HDR group showed persistent metabolic dysregulation, while the WBI LDR and PBI BM2.5 groups were similar to control mice. Machine learning models identified metabolites that were predictive of the type of radiation exposure with high accuracy, highlighting their potential use as biomarkers for radiation damage and oxidative stress.