The international journal of biochemistry & cell biology
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Sepsis is the systematic response to infection. In septic patients who develop severe disease, excessive inflammation damages the lungs, liver, kidneys, and cardiovascular system, leading to multiple organ failure and an associated high mortality rate. Sepsis is the leading cause of death in the intensive care unit. ⋯ Impairment of critical organs is closely associated with infiltration of activated neutrophils into those tissues as well as increased activation of endothelial, epithelial, and macrophage populations within the organs to produce a deregulated, overly aggressive inflammatory response. New pharmacological advances hold promise in improving survival from this multi-systemic disorder. Increasing understanding of the signal transduction pathways of inflammatory cells involved in the disease suggests that targeting specific kinases and transcriptional regulatory mechanisms may prove improve outcome from sepsis.
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Int. J. Biochem. Cell Biol. · Dec 2002
The role of oxidised regenerated cellulose/collagen in wound repair: effects in vitro on fibroblast biology and in vivo in a model of compromised healing.
Irrespective of underlying chronic wound pathology, delayed wound healing is normally characterised by impaired new tissue formation at the site of injury. It is thought that this impairment reflects both a reduced capacity to synthesize new tissue and the antagonistic activities of high levels of proteinases within the chronic wound environment. Historically, wound dressings have largely been passive devices that offer the wound interim barrier function and establish a moist healing environment. ⋯ In vivo studies considered the closure and histological characteristics of diabetic wounds treated with ORC/collagen compared to those of wounds given standard treatment on both diabetic and non-diabetic mice. ORC/collagen was found to significantly accelerate diabetic wound closure and result in a measurable improvement in the histological appearance of wound tissues. As the diabetic mouse is a recognised model of impaired healing, which may share some characteristics of human chronic wounds, the results of this in vivo study, taken together with those relating the positive effects of ORC/collagen in vitro, may predict the beneficial use of this device in the clinical setting.