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Objective: To investigate the effect of a novel topical wound-healing agent, low-concentration povidone-iodine ointment (LPIO) with a hydrophobic white petrolatum-rich base on skin-wound models in rats and rabbits. Method: The therapeutic efficacy of topically applied LPIO was compared to that of standard-concentration povidone-iodine ointment (SPIO) and non-treatment control, using a full-thickness skin-wound model in 24 hairless rats and a full-thickness skin-defect model in rabbit earlobes. The animals were kept under standardised conditions at the Central Research Laboratory of Maruishi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (Osaka, Japan). Therapeutic efficacy was evaluated based on macroscopic wound-size reduction, as well as histopathological and immuno-histochemical examinations. Results: LPIO enhanced wound healing in rat full-thickness skin ulcers, reducing wound size and inflammation, when compared with that in SPIO and non-treatment control. LPIO also markedly improved wound healing in rabbit earlobe ulcers by significantly improving re-epithelialisation, compared with that in SPIO. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that LPIO is a useful topical therapy for ulcerative lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled: Essentials Epithelial cell apoptosis is critical in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Protein S, a circulating anticoagulant, inhibited apoptosis of lung epithelial cells. Overexpression of protein S in lung cells reduced bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis. Intranasal therapy with exogenous protein S ameliorated bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis., Summary: Background Pulmonary fibrosis is the terminal stage of interstitial lung diseases, some of them being incurable and of unknown etiology. Apoptosis plays a critical role in lung fibrogenesis. Protein S is a plasma anticoagulant with potent antiapoptotic activity. The role of protein S in pulmonary fibrosis is unknown. Objectives To evaluate the clinical relevance of protein S and its protective role in pulmonary fibrosis. Methods and Results The circulating level of protein S was measured in patients with pulmonary fibrosis and controls by the use of enzyme immunoassays. Pulmonary fibrosis was induced with bleomycin in transgenic mice overexpressing human protein S and wild-type mice, and exogenous protein S or vehicle was administered to wild-type mice; fibrosis was then compared in both models. Patients with pulmonary fibrosis had reduced circulating levels of protein S as compared with controls. Inflammatory changes, the levels of profibrotic cytokines, fibrosis score, hydroxyproline content in the lungs and oxygen desaturation were significantly reduced in protein S-transgenic mice as compared with wild-type mice. Wild-type mice treated with exogenous protein S showed significant decreases in the levels of inflammatory and profibrotic markers and fibrosis in the lungs as compared with untreated control mice. After bleomycin infusion, mice overexpressing human protein S showed significantly low caspase-3 activity, enhanced expression of antiapoptotic molecules and enhanced Akt and Axl kinase phosphorylation as compared with wild-type counterparts. Protein S also inhibited apoptosis of alveolar epithelial cells in vitro. Conclusions These observations suggest clinical relevance and a protective role of protein S in pulmonary fibrosis., (© 2016 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis.)

Background: Bronchial asthma is characterised by airway inflammation and remodelling with a decline of lung function. Fibrocytes are bone marrow-derived mesenchymal progenitor cells that play important roles in the pathogenesis of airway remodelling. Several clinical parameters are currently being used in routine clinical practice to assess outcome of therapy in asthma including frequency of rescue with short-acting β2-agonist and the asthma control test. In this study, we hypothesised that asthma control test is associated with circulating levels of fibrocytes in bronchial asthma., Methods: There were 20 patients with asthma and seven healthy controls. The number of CD45(+)Collagen I(+) circulating fibrocytes was assessed in the peripheral blood by flow cytometry., Results: The number of circulating fibrocytes was significantly increased in asthma patients with moderate and severe disease compared to controls, and it was inversely correlated with % forced expiratory volume in one second and % forced vital capacity (%FVC). The frequency of inhalation of short-acting β2 agonist and the asthma control test score was significantly and inversely correlated with the number of circulating fibrocytes., Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the number of circulating fibrocytes is inversely correlated with clinical asthma control parameters, further supporting the relevance of measuring circulating fibrocytes as a marker of clinical control in bronchial asthma., (Copyright © 2015 SEICAP. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.)