BACKGROUND: At present, bladder acellular matrix grafts have been successfully used for substituting animal bladder and urinary canal, and for repairing hypospadia. However, reports on bladder acellular matrix grafts for substituting albuginea penis need to be investigated. OBJECTIVE: Allogeneic bladder acellular grafts were used for substituting albuginea penis of rabbits, in order to observe repairing results. DESIGN: A randomized controlled observation. SETTING: West China Medical Laboratory Animal Center and West China Laboratory of Tissue Engineering of Sichuan University as well as Laboratory of Tissue Engineering of Guiyang Medical College. MATERIALS: Fifty male healthy New Zealand Rabbits of grade 3, weighing 2.6-3.0 kg, without phimosis and penis dysplasia, and without presence of phallocampsis after normal saline being perfused, were provided by Huaxi Laboratory Animal Center of Sichuan University. METHODS: This study was performed at the West China Laboratory Animal Center and West China Laboratory of Tissue Engineering of Sichuan University as well as Laboratory of Tissue Engineering of Guiyang Medical College between December 2005 and June 2007. Bladders were taken from 10 experimental rabbits for preparing bladder acellular matrix grafts. The other 40 New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into the control group, and the bladder acellular matrix grafts group, with 20 in each. An area of 10 mm×5 mm of albuginea penis was resected from dorsum penis of each rabbit. Suture in situ of albuginea penis and bladder acellular matrix grafting were conducted in rabbits of the control group and bladder acellular matrix grafts group, respectively. In the 2nd, 6th, 12th and 24th weeks postoperatively, each rabbit was intracavernously perfused normal saline for inducing penile erection, separately, in order to observe phallocampsis. At above-mentioned each time point, experimental animals were sacrificed. Sample was taken from surgical region for haematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and Masson trichrome staining, in order to observe the changes of tissue and structure of surgical region. Types Ⅰand Ⅲ collagen fiber areas were detected by Stirus red staining, and the expressions of inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) were detected by immunohistochemical staining. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ①Phallocampsis status. ② Changes of tissue and structure of surgical region. ③iNOS and TGF-β1 expressions. ④TypeⅠand Ⅲ collagen fiber areas.RESULTS: Forty experimental rabbits were involved in the penile surgery, two of them died from overdose anesthesia, two died from chordapsus, so the remaining thirty-six rabbits were involved in the final analysis. In the 6th week postoperatively, phallocampsis reached its highest level, and 2 rabbits in the control group and 1 rabbit in the bladder acellular matrix grafts group presented phallocampsis. In the 12th week, every rabbit presented phallocampsis. In the 24th week, 1 rabbit in the control group but none in the bladder acellular matrix grafts group presented phallocampsis. In the 2nd week, the structure of surgical regions of each rabbit was poorly clear, with remarkable inflammatory infiltration. In the bladder acellular matrix grafts group, grafting regions presented cells ingrowing the bladder acellular matrix grafts. Masson trichrome staining results showed that in the surgical region, tunica albuginea fibers were thin and poorly arranged. In the 6th week, tunica albuginea recovered its integrity, and bladder acellular matrix grafts could not be distinguished. No significant difference existed between two groups. In the 24th week, tunica albuginea was even and complete in the sugical region, and fibers restored their arrangement of circular muscle in inner layer and longitudinal muscle in outer layer, without difference from normal tunica albuginea. iNOS and TGF-β1 expressions were the strongest in the 2nd week, and they were found in the fibrocytes and vascular endothelial cells in the 6th week, but a little in the 12th and 24th weeks postoperatively. There were no remarkable differences in iNOS and TGF-β1 expressions between two groups at the same time point. In the 2nd week, typesⅠand Ⅲ collagen fibers co-existed with equivalent proportion. Then, typeⅠcollagen fibers were gradually increased, while type Ⅲ collagen fibers were on the contrary. In the 24th week, typeⅠcollagen fibers took the main place and type Ⅲ collagen fibers were unremarkable. CONCLUSION: Bladder acellular matrix grafts have no remarkable inflammatory reactions and fibrosis in repairing tunica albuginea of New Zealand rabbits, so they are very ideal grafting materials for penile surgery.

This is an experiment on rabbits to evaluate the possibility of ureteral replacement by extracellular matrix. We adopted a biochemical method for preparing a new tissue engineering material named Extracellular Matrix (ECM), and the ECMs were used as homologous grafts to replace the defect in the ureters. Light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, immunohistochemical technique and intravenous urography were used. The routine blood and biochemical laboratory tests were made before and after operation, and the measured values of pressure in the ureter of experiment and control groups were compared. The ureteral ECM was found in the experiment to promote the regeneration of all ureteral wall components. There were no significant differentces between the regenerative tissue and the normal tissue in morphology and function 16 weeks after replacement. The homologous ECM might be an ideal replacement material for ureteral defect.
Animals ; Biomedical Engineering ; methods ; Bioprosthesis ; Epithelium ; physiology ; ultrastructure ; Extracellular Matrix ; physiology ; transplantation ; ultrastructure ; Female ; Male ; Rabbits ; Random Allocation ; Transplantation, Autologous ; Ureter ; injuries ; pathology ; surgery

The role of placebo effect in acupuncture and moxibustion efficacy was explored. Through the analysis of multiple factors including trust, expectation, understanding, doctor-patient relationship and social cultural environment, etc. in the literature at home and abroad, it was found the placebo effects, including patient's cognition, expectation, attention, preference and communication with doctor as well as doctor's suggestion, expectation and indirect regulation of diagnosis and treatment environment on patient's psychology, were essential factors for acupuncture efficacy. Therefore, it was concluded that the placebo effect was an inseparable part of acupuncture efficacy.

With continuous improvement of people's living standards, great efforts have been paid to environmental protection. Among those environmental issues, soil contamination by petroleum hydrocarbons has received widespread concerns due to the persistence and the degradation difficulty of the pollutants. Among the various remediation technologies, in-situ microbial remediation enhancement technologies have become the current hotspot because of its low cost, environmental friendliness, and in-situ availability. This review summarizes several in-situ microbial remediation technologies such as bioaugmentation, biostimulation, and integrated remediation, as well as their engineering applications, providing references for the selection of in-situ bioremediation technologies in engineering applications. Moreover, this review discusses future research directions in this area.
Biodegradation, Environmental ; Humans ; Hydrocarbons ; Petroleum ; Soil ; Soil Microbiology ; Soil Pollutants