Aims. Microbiological
Aim. To evaluate clinical outcomes for patients with osteomyelitis at a major trauma centre limb reconstruction unit. Method. We prospectively evaluated 137 patients on the limb reconstruction database with long bone osteomyelitis. Data on initial diagnosis, management (bone resection, use of external fixation, dead space and soft tissue management), microbiology and 2-year outcomes were collated. 11 patients' data was incomplete and 9 underwent primary amputations; these were excluded from microbiology data analysis. The patient data was categorised into microbiological
Aims. The microbiological detection of microorganisms plays a crucial role in the diagnosis as well as in the targeted systemic and local antibiotic therapy of periprosthetic infections (PJI). Despite extensive efforts to improve the sensitivity of current
Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical relevance of an isolated positive sonication fluid
Aims. The outcomes of patients with unexpected positive
Aim. Septic arthritis is a painful infection of articular joints that is typically treated by irrigation & debridement along with antibiotic therapy. There is debate amongst the medical community whether antibiotic administration should be delayed until fluid
Previous research has shown catabolic cell signalling induced by TNF-α and IL-1β within intervertebral (IVD) cells. However, these studies have investigated this in 2D monolayer
Poor tendon repair is an unsolved issue in clinical practice, due to complex tendon structure. Tendon stem/progenitor cells (TSPCs) play key roles in homeostasis, regeneration, and inflammation regulation in acute tendon injuries, and rely on TGF-β signaling for recruitment into degenerative tendons. In this study, we aimed to develop an in vitro model for tenogenesis adopting a dynamic
Meniscus tears have been treated using partial meniscectomy to relieve pain in patients, although this leads to the onset of early osteoarthritis (OA). Cell-based therapies can help preserve the meniscus, although the presence of inflammatory cytokines compromises clinical outcomes. Anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g. celecoxib), can help to reduce pain in patients and in vitro studies suggest a beneficial effect on cytokine inhibited matrix content. Previously, we have demonstrated that the inhibitory effects of IL-1β can be countered by
The novel, highly-sensitive and non-destructive method for the quantification of the osteogenic potential of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs), by the evaluation of its hydroxyapatite (HA), in vitro is 99mTc-HDP-Labelling. 99mTc-HDP (tracer) binds rapidly to HA and this uptake can be visualized and quantified. This study was performed to evaluate if this method is suitable to perform a real-time assessment during an ongoing cell
Novel biomaterials are being developed and studied, intended to be applied as bone graft substitute materials. Typically, these materials are being tested in in vitro setups, where among others their cytotoxicity and alkaline phosphatase activity (as a marker for osteoblastic differentiation) are being evaluated. However, it has been reported that in vitro tests correlate poorly with in vivo results and therefore many promising biomaterials may not reach the clinic as a bone graft substitute product. One of the reasons for the poor correlation, may be the minimal complexity of the in vitro tests, as compared to the in vivo environment. Ex vivo models, mimicking the natural tissue environment whilst maintaining control of
Autografts containing bone marrow (BM) are current gold standard in the treatment of critical size bone defects, delayed union and bone nonunion defects. Although reaching unprecedented healing rates in bone reconstruction, the mode of action and cell-cell interactions of bone marrow mononuclear cell (BM-MNC) populations have not yet been described. BM-MNCs consist of a heterogeneous mixture of hematopoetic and non-hematopoetic lineage fractions. Cell
Aim. Septic arthritis (SA) is considered a medical emergency. The most common etiological agents are glucose consuming bacteria, so we evaluated the clinical utility of synovial fluid (SF) glucose levels and other biochemical parameters for supporting the diagnosis of the disease and their association with a positive bacteria
Introduction and Objective. Low back pain (LBP) is a disorder strongly associated with intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) with an important impact on the quality of life of affected people. To date, LBP treatment is based on conservative methods with the aim to reduce back pain without restoring the degenerative environment of the disc. The main cause of IDD is the drastic reduction of the proteoglycan content within the nucleus pulposus (NP), eventually leading to the loss of disc water content, micro-architecture, biochemical and mechanical properties. A promising approach for disc regeneration is represented by the transplantation of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs). The exact mechanism remains unknown. Growing evidence suggests that MSCs can influence cells and modulate cells’ behaviour by secreting a set of bioactive factors. MSCs secretome is composed of several molecules such as soluble protein, lipids, nucleic acids and extracellular vesicles (EVs) involved in inflammation, immunomodulation, cell survival and intercellular communication. The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro effects of MSCs secretome on human NP cells (hNPCs) in a 3D
Objectives. Bone tissue engineering is one of the fastest growing branches in modern bioscience. New methods are being developed to achieve higher grades of mineral deposition by osteogenically inducted mesenchymal stem cells. In addition to well established monolayer cell
Aim. Microbial identification in the setting of periprosthetic joint infections (PJI) is crucial to tailor the best combination of surgical and medical treatment. Given the high cost, low sensitivity and slow results associated with traditional
Abstract. Introduction. It is increasingly evident that synovium may play a larger role in the aetiology of osteoarthritis. We compared gene expression in whole tissue synovial biopsies from end-stage knee osteoarthritis and knee trauma patients with that of their paired explant
The use of implant biomaterials for prosthetic reconstructive surgery and osteosynthesis is consolidated in the orthopaedic field, improving the quality of life of patients and allowing for healthy and better ageing. However, there is the lack of advanced innovative methods to investigate the potentialities of smart biomaterials, particularly for the study of local effects of implant and osteointegration. Despite the complex process of osseointegration is difficult to recreate in vitro, the growing challenges in developing alternative models require to set-up and validate new approaches. Aim of the present study is to evaluate an advanced in vitro tissue
Objectives. Nasal carriers of Staphylococcus (S.) aureus (MRSA and MSSA) have an increased risk for healthcare-associated infections. There are currently limited national screening policies for the detection of S. aureus despite the World Health Organization’s recommendations. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of molecular and
Aim. Diagnosis of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) presents a real challenge in some patients. Batteries of tests are available to reach this diagnosis. It is unknown if blood