Search Results (1,008)

Chronic wounds, such as diabetic ulcers, remain a significant clinical challenge due to high infection risk and delayed healing. This study presents a comprehensive evaluation of a novel wound dressing incorporating curcumin-functionalized silver–zinc oxide (Ag-ZnO) nanoparticles. The formulation was rationally designed based on molecular docking simulations that identified curcumin as a high-affinity ligand for Staphylococcus aureus Protein A. The synthesized nanoparticles demonstrated potent, broad-spectrum antibacterial activity, achieving complete inhibition of multidrug-resistant pathogens, including MRSA, within 60 s. A critical comparative assessment, incorporating an unloaded Ag-ZnO nanoparticle control group, was conducted in both a rabbit wound model and a randomized clinical trial (n = 75 patients). This design confirmed that the enhanced wound-healing efficacy is specifically attributable to the synergistic effect of curcumin combined with the nanoparticles. The curcumin-loaded Ag-ZnO treatment group showed a statistically significant reduction in healing time compared to both standard care and unloaded nanoparticle controls (e.g., medium wounds: 19.6 days vs. 90.6, p < 0.001). These findings demonstrate that curcumin-functionalized Ag-ZnO nanoparticles offer a safe and highly effective therapeutic strategy, providing robust antibacterial action and significantly accelerated wound healing. Full article

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) is a leading cause of infectious corneal blindness worldwide. Human donor corneal transplantation remains the primary treatment for scarred corneas resulting from herpes simplex keratitis (HSK), a severe inflammatory corneal disease caused by HSV-1 infection, despite a high risk of re-infection or immune rejection of the allografts. As possible alternatives to donor grafting for HSK, we developed cell-free, regeneration-stimulating corneal implants designed to work even under adverse inflammatory situations such as severe infections. The implants comprised short, fully synthetic collagen-like peptides conjugated to polyethylene glycol (CLP-PEG) and crosslinked using carbodiimide chemistry. Being cell-free, they lacked the cellular targets that an already activated immune system would encounter in these inflamed corneas. We tested the performance of these implants in guinea pig and rabbit models of HSK. Three different HSV-1 strains were used to create experimental HSK in rabbits and guinea pigs. There were no overall statistically significant species differences or species–strain differences in virus-induced mortality. At three months post-operation, all treated corneas showed tissue regeneration, but with haze or neovascularization. The initially cell-free CLP-PEG implants allowed for repopulation by ingrowing cells to regenerate neocorneal tissue, despite the inflammation. However, they did not prevent HSV-1 reactivation nor re-infection, as neovascularization and disorganization were observed within the neocorneas. A detailed histopathological examination revealed viral strain differences, but only KOS infection showed interspecies neovascularization differences. A more detailed examination with larger numbers of animals is merited to fully elucidate the effects of the different viral strains on rabbits versus guinea pigs. Full article

Bioactive agents can stimulate osteogenesis, angiogenesis, and cell proliferation; therefore, their application in bone regeneration offers significant therapeutic potential. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate strategies for applying chitosan-based scaffolds with growth factors in bone regeneration. A structured literature search was conducted in July 2025 across the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. Search terms included combinations of (chitosan scaffold) AND (growth factor OR BMP-2 OR VEGF OR FGF OR TGF-beta OR periostin OR PDGF OR IGF-1 OR EGF OR ANG-1 OR ANG-2 OR GDF-5 OR SDF-1 OR osteopontin). The study selection process followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines and the PICO framework. Out of 367 records, 226 were screened, and 17 studies met the eligibility criteria for qualitative analysis. BMP-2 was the most frequently investigated growth factor, studied in both in vitro and in vivo models, with rats and rabbits as the most common animal models. Scaffold compositions varied, incorporating hydroxyapatite, heparin, polyethylene glycol diacrylate, octacalcium phosphate-mineralized graphene, silk fibroin, and aloe vera. Growth factors were introduced using diverse methods, including microspheres, chemical grafting, covalent coupling, protein carriers, and nanohydroxyapatite mesopores. Most studies reported enhanced bone regeneration, although differences in models, scaffold composition, and delivery methods preclude definitive conclusions. The addition of growth factors generally improved osteoblast proliferation, angiogenesis, bone density, and expression of osteogenic markers (RunX2, COL1, OPN, OCN). Combining two bioactive agents further amplified osteoinduction and vascularization. Sustained-release systems, particularly those using heparin or hydroxyapatite, prolonged biological activity and improved regenerative outcomes. In conclusion, functionalization of chitosan-based scaffolds with growth factors shows promising potential for bone regeneration. Controlled-release systems and combinations of different bioactive molecules may offer synergistic effects on osteogenesis and angiogenesis. Further research should focus on optimizing scaffold compositions and delivery methods to tailor bioactive agent release for specific clinical applications. Full article

Background/Objectives: Gingival tissue deficiencies present significant treatment challenges. We investigated three xenogeneic collagen scaffolds—Fibro-Gide, FibroMATRIX, and Mucoderm—with and without human gingival MSCs for soft tissue augmentation. Methods: The study assessed scaffold properties (mechanical properties and micro-CT structure), cytocompatibility, ex vivo vascular growth stimulation (CAM-test), and in vivo effects in rabbit model. Results: All scaffolds were cytocompatible and maintained MSC viability via extract and contact cytotoxicity tests. Fibro-Gide showed the highest porosity at 78.5%, followed by FibroMATRIX at 64.3%, while Mucoderm had the lowest porosity at 33.2%. Mucoderm exhibited the greatest stiffness due to its dense structure, contrasting with the more similar mechanical properties of Fibro-Gide and FibroMATRIX. In an ex vivo HET-Cam model of the angiogenic response, Fibro-Gide exhibited reduced blood vessel length and blood flow rate compared to FibroMATRIX and Mucoderm. In vivo, Mucoderm resorbed completely, FibroMATRIX demonstrated optimal partial degradation, and Fibro-Gide retained most of its collagen structure. Conclusions: The FibroMATRIX with MSCs combination showed particularly promising results for enhancing tissue thickness and vascularization, suggesting this approach could significantly improve gingival regeneration outcomes. Full article

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of heated CO₂ and forced-air warming on perioperative temperature in a rabbit model of prolonged pneumoperitoneum. Methods: Thirty-seven New Zealand rabbits, weighing an average of 3.85 kg, were divided into four experimental groups with different warming methods: the control group (CT) underwent unheated pneumoperitoneum (22 °C); another group (HP) underwent pneumoperitoneum with heated CO (36 °C); a third group (FA) underwent unheated pneumoperitoneum but with the use of a forced-air warming device (43 °C) positioned between the animal and the surgical table; and the fourth group of animals (HP + FA) underwent heated pneumoperitoneum with the use of a forced-air warming device. For all animals, the pneumoperitoneum was maintained for 120 min. The animals’ temperature was measured immediately before sedation (I0), at the beginning of insufflation (I1, which was mandatory 60 min after I0), every 15 min during pneumoperitoneum (I2–I9), and 15 min after desufflation (I10). The data were analyzed and compared by Student’s t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation and linear regression, considering p < 0.05 as significant. Results: There was no difference between the groups regarding weight, temperature at I0, temperature at I1, volume of CO used, or Δt (I0–I1). In all groups, there was a decrease in temperature when comparing the final instants (I9 or I10) with the initial instants (I0 or I1) of the study (p < 0.05). However, the groups that used the forced-air warming (FA and HP + FA) had a smaller decrease in temperature and a higher final temperature, with no difference between these groups. Furthermore, these groups recovered their temperature better after deflation (from I9 to I10). For all groups, a correlation between time and temperature was observed, but in the groups that used a heated mattress, the slope of the linear regression line was smaller. Conclusions: The use of a forced-air warming system (combined or not with the use of heated CO) reduced the heat loss during prolonged pneumoperitoneum in a small animal model. This warming method is recommended for preventing hypothermia in laparoscopic surgeries with expected prolonged surgical time. Full article

Background: Metabolic syndrome is a constellation of medical conditions including central obesity, high blood sugar, and high triglycerides known to increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes, with significant sex differences in the syndrome’s incidence and prevalence. These clinical symptoms may be accompanied by cognitive impairment. Methods: In the present experiment, we fed rabbits a diet high in fat and sugar (HFSD), assessed symptoms, and measured changes in cognition using trace eyeblink conditioning. Results: We show that a range of symptoms of metabolic syndrome resulted from HFSD in male and female rabbits and obesity, high blood sugar, and glucose intolerance were higher in male than female rabbits. Specifically, HFSD male rabbits gained more weight and had a higher body-mass index, more body fat, higher fasting glucose levels, and greater glucose intolerance. Importantly, using trace and delay eyeblink conditioning, we show that there was cognitive impairment because of the high-fat and high-sugar diet in both male and female rabbits, but this was greater in HFSD male rabbits than HFSD female rabbits. Conclusions: Metabolic syndrome modeled in rabbits fed a diet high in fat and sugar reflects trends in the adult population including central obesity, high blood sugar, and high triglycerides and cognitive impairment and provides an important model and test bed for assessing interventions. Full article

This study focused on utilizing the double-mutant heat-labile toxin (R192G/L211A) (dmLT) as a backbone protein, into which neutralizing epitopes of ETEC (FaeG, FedF, FanC, FasA, and Fim41a) were embedded. A combination of computational modeling and immunogenicity analysis was conducted to evaluate the dmLT_{(R192G/L211A)} multiepitope fusion antigen (MEFA). Both the computational modeling and experimental results confirmed that all relevant epitopes were clearly exposed on the surface of the MEFA. Subcutaneous immunizations of rabbits with the MEFA protein yielded the development of IgG antibodies that targeted all five fimbriae. Furthermore, these antibodies demonstrated significant inhibition of adhesion for K88+, K99+, 987P+, F18+, and F41+ ETEC strains to porcine small intestinal epithelial cell line IPEC-J2 cells. These results indicated that the dmLT toxoid-based MEFA protein effectively elicits high-titer, functional antibodies capable of neutralizing the attachment of multiple prevalent ETEC fimbrial types, highlighting its potential as a broad-spectrum vaccine candidate. Consequently, it shows promising potential as a broad and effective vaccine against ETEC. Full article

Mpox virus (MPXV), a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the Poxviridae family, has long been endemic in Africa. The interaction between MPXV infection and peripheral immune responses is of great significance. However, the activation of signaling pathways and molecular changes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) following MPXV infection remain poorly understood. This study evaluated the transcriptomic profiles of rabbit PBMCs during the mpox acute and recovery phases. The results showed that MPXV infection significantly altered the transcriptomic profiles of PBMCs. At 6 days post-infection, pathways related to pathogenic infection and IL-1 response were enriched, while at 14 days post-infection, the T cell receptor signaling pathway was enriched. During the mpox acute phase, inflammatory cytokines in serum such as IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-8, and IL-21 were upregulated, while MMP-9 and NCAM-1 were downregulated. In rabbits and rhesus monkeys, key genes upregulated in common during the mpox acute period were associated with the interferon pathway (e.g., the ISG15, OAS, and IFIT families), while downregulated genes were related to B-cell activation and differentiation (e.g., the MS4A1 and FCRL families). Additionally, rabbits developed protective immunity against reinfection, with neutralizing antibodies effectively activated. These findings provide insights into the molecular characteristics of PBMCs changes in in vivo models of MPXV infection, and offer references for the diagnosis, vaccine development, and therapeutic research of mpox. Full article

Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is a prevalent cardiovascular condition and is the most common heart valve disease globally. Hyperlipidemia and aging are key risk factors; consequently, with the aging global population, CAVD incidence continues to rise. Despite extensive research, the pathogenesis of CAVD remains unclear, leading to a lack of effective pharmacological therapies. Consequently, valve replacement surgery persists as the primary treatment option. Establishing suitable animal models is crucial for investigating the complex pathophysiological mechanisms of CAVD in vivo, although an optimal model has yet to be identified. This review provides a concise overview of CAVD pathogenesis and summarizes the application of common animal models—including mice, rats, rabbits, and pigs—in studying valve calcification. We specifically detail the construction of various models and their associated calcific aortic valve phenotypes. Furthermore, we outline common detection methods for assessing aortic valve calcification in these models and suggest future directions for developing improved animal models relevant to CAVD research. Full article

This study aimed to evaluate the regenerative effects of various microcurrent waveforms in cast-induced gastrocnemius muscle atrophy in rabbits, integrating both in vitro and in vivo analyses. After two weeks of enforced hindlimb immobilization via casting, twenty-four rabbits were divided into four groups and treated for two weeks: Group-1 (control) received sham microcurrent, Group-2 was treated with a square waveform microcurrent, Group-3 with a sine waveform, and Group-4 with a triangular waveform. Treatments were administered daily for one hour. Calf circumference, muscle thickness (via ultrasound), tibial nerve CMAP, muscle fiber CSA, and protein expression (via Western blot analysis) were assessed. Among the groups, the sine waveform microcurrent resulted in significantly enhanced recovery across all measured parameters (p < 0.05), showing superior improvements in muscle thickness, CMAP amplitude, and fiber CSA. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed increased expression of proliferation and angiogenesis markers, including BrdU, PCNA, VEGF, and PECAM-1, while Western blotting demonstrated robust upregulation of myogenic regulatory factors such as MyoD and myogenin. Furthermore, levels of inflammatory and apoptotic markers, including TNF-α, NF-κB, and cleaved caspase-3, and stress response proteins, including p-CHK1 and p-CHK2, were markedly reduced. Collectively, these findings indicate that sine waveform microcurrent stimulation most effectively promotes muscle regeneration in both dexamethasone-induced C2C12 myoblasts and cast-induced muscle atrophy, underscoring its therapeutic potential and warranting further studies to optimize clinical application parameters. Full article

Myocardial hypoxia is a major cause of cardiac dysfunction, triggering cellular injury and apoptosis. This study aims to investigate the effects of subacute hypoxia on cardiac remodeling and mitochondrial oxygen consumption. This study is based on a rabbit experimental model. Hypoxia was induced using a rabbit tracheal stenosis model. Endotracheal intubation with a 1.5 cm segmented tube wrapped with an absorbable hemostat was used to generate tracheal stenosis in six rabbits. Sham controls (n = 3) underwent tracheotomy, with the tracheal exposure site being sutured immediately. After 1 week, the tube was removed. Echocardiography and mitochondrial function from both groups were morphologically and functionally analyzed at 2 weeks after endoscopic confirmation of tracheal stenosis. Compared to sham group, tracheal stenosis group showed significantly reduced interventricular septal wall thickness (2.3 ± 0.1 mm vs. 2.7 ± 0.2 mm, p = 0.08) and enlarged left ventricular end-diastolic volume (5.86 ± 0.58 mL vs. 5.39 ± 0.18 mL, p = 0.46) with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (54.5 ± 5.3% vs. 66.9 ± 4.0%, p = 0.005). The tracheal stenosis group showed significantly reduced mitochondrial oxygen consumption at state 3 with reduced respiratory control ratio. Caspase activities (caspase-9 and caspase-3) were increased in the tracheal stenosis group than in the sham group. Subacute hypoxia induced by the tracheal stenosis model causes cardiac remodeling and mitochondrial dysfunction through apoptotic pathways. This study suggests that management of hypoxia could prevent cellular apoptosis and cardiac dysfunction. Full article

Accurate gender identification from written text is critical for author profiling, recommendation systems, and demographic analytics in digital ecosystems. This study introduces a scalable framework for gender classification in Turkish, combining contextualized BERTurk and subword-aware FastText embeddings with three meta-heuristic feature selection algorithms: Genetic Algorithm (GA), Jaya and Artificial Rabbit Optimization (ARO). Evaluated on the IAG-TNKU corpus of 43,292 balanced Turkish news articles, the best-performing model—BERTurk+GA+LSTM—achieves 89.7% accuracy, while ARO reduces feature dimensionality by 90% with minimal performance loss. Beyond in-domain results, exploratory zero-shot and few-shot adaptation experiments on Turkish e-commerce product reviews demonstrate the framework’s transferability: while zero-shot performance dropped to 59.8%, few-shot adaptation with only 200–400 labeled samples raised accuracy to 69.6–72.3%. These findings highlight both the limitations of training exclusively on news articles and the practical feasibility of adapting the framework to consumer-generated content with minimal supervision. In addition to technical outcomes, we critically examine ethical considerations in gender inference, including fairness, representation, and the binary nature of current datasets. This work contributes a reproducible and linguistically informed baseline for gender profiling in morphologically rich, low-resource languages, with demonstrated potential for adaptation across domains such as social media and e-commerce personalization. Full article

The proposed research aims to evaluate the histopathological effects of the intra-articular administration of recombinant human proteoglycan 4 (rhPRG4) on an experimental model of induced temporomandibular joint (TMJ) osteoarthritis (OA) in rabbits. An experimental study was conducted on rabbit TMJs. Twenty-four TMJs were included, distributed as follows: (1) TMJ-C, a control group consisting of four healthy TMJs; (2) TMJ-OA, a group consisting of five TMJs with OA; (3) TMJ-OA-WT, a group consisting of five untreated TMJ-OAs; (4) rhPRG4-30, a group consisting of five TMJ-OAs treated with rhPRG4 30 μg/mL; and (5) rhPRG4-100, a group consisting of five TMJ-OAs treated with rhPRG4 100 μg/mL. A histopathological analysis was performed, considering the mandibular condyle, articular disc, and mandibular fossa, comparing the groups. In addition, a quantitative comparative analysis was performed using the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) scale. Kruskal–Wallis and Dunn’s post hoc tests were used for statistical analysis, considering a statistical significance of p < 0.05. The histological analysis of TMJ tissue reveals key differences between healthy, osteoarthritic, and rhPRG4-treated joints. The intra-articular infiltration of rhPRG4 in TMJ-OA has a cartilage and articular disc repair effect, reducing the severity of osteoarthritis and promoting a more organized cartilage structure, with slightly better results at the 30 μg/mL concentration. Full article

Exposure to ionising radiation may be hazardous to living beings, including humans. Ionising radiation exposure has been shown to cause hepatic dysfunction or even liver cancer in persons receiving radiation therapy who do not have liver disease. Changes in hepatic enzyme values may suggest radiation-induced stress on liver cells. Then this experimental study examined the effect of different doses of radiation on the liver enzymes aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Methods: Six equal groups of thirty-six New Zealand white rabbits weighing 3 and 5 kg each were formed. The rabbits received total body radiation doses of 0 Gy (Control group), 0.053 Gy, 0.11 Gy, 0.21 Gy, 0.42 Gy, and 0.84 Gy on days, 1, 3, and 5 and week 1, week 2, week 3, and week 4. Generalised Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) were used to compare the data statistically. Results: There was a significant rise in the serum liver enzyme levels; aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) all showed a statistically significant time effect after the application of different radiation doses. Based on the group effect of radiation, AST and ALP, but not ALT, showed statistically significant findings. Full article

The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a key species in many Mediterranean ecosystems, especially as prey for numerous Iberian predators. Due to its population decline and spatially heterogeneous recovery following different diseases, there is a need to understand the factors driving local abundance, and a potential refuge effect of anthropized sites has been speculated. In this study, 18 peri-urban areas in Central Spain were selected and a rabbit abundance index was measured in those areas and in parallel controls. Urban occupation and vegetation cover around sampling points were measured, as well as distance to roads, forest patches, and rivers, as factors which can drive rabbit abundance. Linear models were built to unravel general trends in data, from the perspectives of vegetation vs. human occupation and larger landscape-scale effects on rabbit abundance. Negative effects of urban development, distance to roads and proportion of pastures on rabbit abundance were identified, in addition to a positive effect of distance to large forest patches. Regarding urbanization, differences were found among urban types, with a significant negative effect of single-family residential occupation in comparison with multi-family and commercial/industrial occupation. In short, urbanization affects rabbit density, but it does not produce a generalized refuge area surrounding human settlements. Full article