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A lack of murine models that mimic impaired wound healing in people with type 2 diabetes has hindered research. The commonly used leptin-receptor knockout model (db/db) fails to accurately reflect the pathophysiology of human disease. This study aimed: (i) to investigate whether our novel murine model of diabetes, whilst less hyperglycaemic and obese than db/dbs, effectively demonstrated impaired wound healing, and (ii) to identify the most robust methods for quantifying wound closure. C57BL/6J mice were high-fat diet fed for a total of 11 weeks and injected with three doses of streptozotocin (65 mg/kg body weight) at week 5 with chow-fed mice as controls. All mice received four excisional wounds and were euthanised at day-4 or day-10 post-wounding (n = 8/group/timepoint). Wound healing was evaluated by digital planimetry, histology, Micro-CT, and tensiometry. Histological analysis was the most sensitive method for identifying impaired wound healing. Our high-fat diet/low-dose streptozotocin model had significantly higher non-fasting blood glucose (25.7 ± 5.4 mmol/L vs. 8.7 ± 0.8 mmol/L) and lower wound quality scores (day-4 post-wounding: 2.6 ± 1.9 vs. 4.4 ± 0.8) than healthy controls (both p < 0.05). At day-10 post-wounding, a linear trend in wound healing was observed between healthy controls, our novel model and the db/db model, indicating that our diabetic murine model may be clinically relevant for studying diabetes-related wound healing.
by Elora Sharmin, Ajmain Ishaat Khan, Sheikh Foyez Ahmed
Understanding the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnant women and their neonates is crucial for understanding maternal and fetal outcomes, particularly the extent of passive immunity against SARS-CoV-2 which can be imparted to the neonates. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the transplacental transfer of maternal SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies against the spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins to neonates and understand whether factors like maternal comorbidities, gestational weeks, and neonatal birth weight have an influence on placental transfer ratios (PTR). A total of 57 pregnant women were assessed for SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG antibodies at delivery, and corresponding antibody titers were also measured in their neonates immediately after delivery. The PTRs for anti-S and anti-N IgG were calculated, and statistical analyses were performed for identifying potential influencing factors. The mean PTR for anti-S IgG was 1.38, suggesting effective placental transfer, whereas anti-N IgG had a lower PTR of 1.13, indicating limited transfer. A strong positive correlation was observed between maternal and neonatal anti-S IgG (r = 0.558, pIn Bangladesh, evidence on the long-term trajectory of adolescents' sexual and reproductive health (SRH) remains limited, largely due to the lack of longitudinal data to assess the changes over time. To address this gap, the Advancing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (AdSEARCH) project of International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) set up an adolescent cohort study aimed at documenting changes in SRH knowledge, attitudes and practices, and identifying the factors affecting these changes. This article presents the baseline sociodemographic and SRH characteristics of this cohort as a pathway for future analyses.
This cohort study included 2713 adolescents from the Baliakandi Health and Demographic Surveillance System run by icddr,b. The cohort covered three age groups from girls and boys, giving a total of five cohorts: girls aged 12, 14 and 16 years; and boys aged 14 and 16 years. A total of seven rounds of data had been collected at 4-month intervals over 2-years follow-up period.
The majority of adolescents were attending school (90%), and school dropouts were higher among boys. Around 17% of the respondents were involved in income-generating activities, which were mostly boys. Among girls, the mean age of menarche was 12.2 years. Overall, 6% of adolescents had major depressive disorder, with prevalence increasing with age. Gender differences were evident regarding knowledge about conception and contraception. Egalitarian attitudes towards social norms and gender roles were found higher among girls (52%) compared to boys (11%). The majority of adolescents reported experiencing social/verbal bullying (43%), followed by physical violence (38%) and cyberbullying (4%).
This article presents the baseline findings only. A series of papers is in the pipeline for submission to different peer-reviewed journals. The findings from this study will be used to support data-driven policy formulation for future adolescent health programmes.
FreshRSS 