The stimulatory effects of topical application of radioactive lantern mantle powder on wound healing

Adaptive response in mice exposed to 900 MHZ radiofrequency fields: bleomycin-induced DNA and oxidative damage/repair

PURPOSE

To determine whether mice exposed to radiofrequency fields (RF) and then injected with a radiomimetic drug, bleomycin (BLM), exhibit adaptive response and provide some mechanistic evidence for such response.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Adult mice were exposed to 900 MHz RF at 120 μW/cm(2) power density for 4 hours/day for 7 days. Immediately after the last exposure, some mice were sacrificed while the others were injected with BLM 4 h later. In each animal: (i) The primary DNA damage and BLM-induced damage as well as its repair kinetics were determined in blood leukocytes; and (ii) the oxidative damage was determined from malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and the antioxidant status was assessed from superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels in plasma, liver and lung tissues.

RESULTS

There were no indications for increased DNA and oxidative damages in mice exposed to RF alone in contrast to those treated with BLM alone. Mice exposed to RF+ BLM showed significantly: (a) reduced BLM-induced DNA damage and that remained after each 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 min repair time, and (b) decreased levels of MDA in plasma and liver, and increased SOD level in the lung.

CONCLUSIONS

The overall data suggested that RF exposure was capable of inducing adaptive response and mitigated BLM- induced DNA and oxidative damages by activating certain cellular processes.

CoolClot, a novel hemostatic agent for controlling life-threatening arterial bleeding

BACKGROUND:

Uncontrolled bleeding is the first leading cause of preventable death in the battlefield and the 2nd cause of mortality in civil accidents. Incompressible hemorrhage control is among the interventions that drastically increase the survival rate in wound individuals. We have previously shown that a certain mixture of bentonite and zeolite minerals can significantly decrease the bleeding in rats.

METHODS:

In this study, nine healthy hybrid dogs were selected and after induction of anesthesia with ether, either arterial puncture by a needle or arteriotomy was performed on both groin regions of the dogs. For control arteries (either the right or left femoral artery), only pressure by sterilized gauze was performed, while for the femoral arteries of the opposite side, our invented hemostatic agent, namely CoolClot, was topically used before applying the pressure. In the second stage of the study, to assess the coagulation time, blood samples were collected from 10 volunteer students.

RESULTS:

CoolClot significantly decreased the bleeding time in animals whose femoral arteries were cut or punctured. In the human phase of the study, the mean coagulation time in control blood samples was 253.4±44.1 seconds, whereas it was 149.5±50.0, 162.3±74.6 and 143.4±114.6 seconds, respectively in blood samples treated with bentonite, zeolite and CoolClot (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS:

As controlling bleeding after a life-threatening arterial damage is critical for increasing the chance of survival, the results obtained in this study indicate the significant efficacy of CoolClot in shortening the bleeding time. Our experiments also indicate that CoolClot can significantly reduce the clotting time in human blood samples.

Potential treatment of inflammatory and proliferative diseases by ultra-low doses of ionizing radiations

Ultra-low doses and dose- rates of ionizing radiation are effective in preventing disease which suggests that they also may be effective in treating disease. Limited experimental and anecdotal evidence indicates that low radiation doses from radon in mines and spas, thorium-bearing monazite sands and enhanced radioactive uranium ore obtained from a natural geological reactor may be useful in treating many inflammatory conditions and proliferative disorders, including cancer. Optimal therapeutic applications were identified via a literature survey as dose-rates ranging from 7 to 11μGy/hr or 28 to 44 times world average background rates. Rocks from an abandoned uranium mine in Utah were considered for therapeutic application and were examined by γ-ray and laser-induced breakdown fluorescence spectroscopy. The rocks showed the presence of transuranics and fission products with a γ-ray energy profile similar to aged spent uranium nuclear fuel (93% dose due to β particles and 7% due to γ rays). Mud packs of pulverized uranium ore rock dust in sealed plastic bags delivering bag surface β,γ dose-rates of 10-450 μGy/h were used with apparent success to treat several inflammatory and proliferative conditions in humans.

A novel noncontact method to assess the biomechanical properties of wound tissue

A novel noncontact optical coherence tomography based air-jet indentation system was developed for characterizing the biomechanical properties of soft tissue in a noncontact way. This study aimed to measure the stiffness of diabetic foot ulcer tissues by using this air-jet indentation system, and examining the test/retest reliability. Eight subjects with diabetes (seven males, one female), with a total of 10 foot ulcers between them, participated in the study. A total of 20 measuring sites located at the central wound bed (n=10) or peri-ulcer areas (n=10), respectively, were evaluated with the air-jet indentation system. Four cycles of loading and unloading, each with a duration of approximately 36 seconds at an indentation rate of 0.08 mm/s, were carried out for each indentation trial. The test/retest reliability was examined at all measuring points. The average stiffness coefficient of the peri-ulcer area (mean ± SD: 0.47 ± 0.15 N/mm) was significantly larger than that of the central wound bed area (mean ± SD: 0.35 ± 0.23 N/mm; p=0.042). A high value for test/retest reliability was shown (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.986; Pearson's correlation: r=0.972, p<0.001). Our preliminary findings showed that the peri-ulcer area had greater stiffness than the central wound bed. This greater magnitude of hardness and inelasticity at the peri-ulcer region may scatter part of the contractile forces for wound contraction during the healing process. We found the novel air-jet system to be a reliable tool for characterizing the stiffness of soft tissues around the wound in a noncontact way.