Bear bile: dilemma of traditional medicinal use and animal protection

Bear bile has been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for thousands of years. Modern investigations showed that it has a wide range of pharmacological actions with little toxicological side effect and the pure compounds have been used for curing hepatic and biliary disorders for decades. However, extensive consumption of bear bile made bears endangered species. In the 1980's, bear farming was established in China to extract bear bile from living bears with "Free-dripping Fistula Technique". Bear farming is extremely inhumane and many bears died of illness such as chronic infections and liver cancer. Efforts are now given by non-governmental organizations, mass media and Chinese government to end bear farming ultimately. At the same time, systematic research has to be done to find an alternative for bear bile. In this review, we focused on the literature, laboratory and clinical results related to bear bile and its substitutes or alternative in English and Chinese databases. We examined the substitutes or alternative of bear bile from three aspects: pure compounds derived from bear bile, biles from other animals and herbs from TCM. We then discussed the strategy for stopping the trading of bear bile and issues of bear bile related to potential alternative candidates, existing problems in alternative research and work to be done in the future

Engineered heart muscle allografts for heart repair in primates and humans

Cardiomyocytes can be implanted to remuscularize the failing heart. Challenges include sufficient cardiomyocyte retention for a sustainable therapeutic impact without intolerable side effects, such as arrhythmia and tumour growth. We investigated the hypothesis that epicardial engineered heart muscle (EHM) allografts from induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes and stromal cells structurally and functionally remuscularize the chronically failing heart without limiting side effects in rhesus macaques. After confirmation of in vitro and in vivo (nude rat model) equivalence of the newly developed rhesus macaque EHM model with a previously established Good Manufacturing Practice-compatible human EHM formulation, long-term retention (up to 6 months) and dose-dependent enhancement of the target heart wall by EHM grafts constructed from 40 to 200 million cardiomyocytes/stromal cells were demonstrated in macaques with and without myocardial infarction-induced heart failure. In the heart failure model, evidence for EHM allograft-enhanced target heart wall contractility and ejection fraction, which are measures for local and global heart support, was obtained. Histopathological and gadolinium-based perfusion magnetic resonance imaging analyses confirmed cell retention and functional vascularization. Arrhythmia and tumour growth were not observed. The obtained feasibility, safety and efficacy data provided the pivotal underpinnings for the approval of a first-in-human clinical trial on tissue-engineered heart repair. Our clinical data confirmed remuscularization by EHM implantation in a patient with advanced heart failure

Wildlife forensics: "supervised" assignment testing can complicate the association of suspect cases to source populations.

Forensic science techniques are an important component of investigations for wildlife-related offences. In particular, DNA analyses can be used to characterize several attributes of biological evidence including sex, individual and species identification. Additionally, genetic assignment testing has enabled forensic biologists to identify the local population from which an individual may have originated. This technique has proved useful in situations where animals have been illegally harvested from areas/populations where hunting is prohibited. For this report, we used individual-based clustering (IBC), in the program Structure 2.2, under both "supervised" and "unsupervised" approaches to assess whether three suspected, illegally harvested moose originated from an endangered population. Atypical circumstances, with Nova Scotia having two moose sub-species in its jurisdiction, enabled strong IBC assignment testing results to determine the source population of the suspected samples. We found differences between the "unsupervised" and "supervised" modeling approaches to define genetic structure among the a priori characterized populations in our data set. Our findings illustrate the fact that individual clustering assignment tests can assist wildlife forensic cases to identify the source population of illegally harvested animals. However, the accuracy of results are highly dependant on the model choice used to define genetic clusters, as well as on the availability of a thorough database of samples throughout the managed area to accurately identify all genetic populations. Further, it is clear from our analyses that political jurisdictions do not accurately reflect isolated populations and we recommend using unsupervised IBC modeling for biological accuracy.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigen.2010.02.00

Vanadium chemistry of ascidians

1. 1. Addition of exogenous ligands, 2,2′-bipyridine and 1,10-phenanthroline, to a variety of aplousobranch and phlebobranch ascidians, oproduced deep purple oxo-bridged binuclear complexes of bis(chelate)vanadium(III) within compartment (including signet ring) and some unpigmented morula cells confirming the presence of vanadium(III) in these cells. 2. 2. Treatment with acetylacetone formed [VO(acac)] and [V(acac)]. 3. 3. Electron paramagnetic resonance studies confirmed the presence of vanadium(IV) in all vanadium-containing Aplousobranchs, and little or no vanadium(IV) in the Phlebobranchs, and identified two types of vanadium(IV) binding to organic ligands with the 'oxidized' Phlebobranchs generally of Type I and the Aplousobranchs generally of Type II with e.p.r. parameters: Type I-g 1.992, g 1.987, g 1.967, A 53.01, A 51.95, A 155.47 × 10 cm; Type II-g 1.980, g 1.985, g 1.951, A 59.08, A 55.72, A 166.68 × 10 cm. 4. 4. Electron microscopic investigation of the morula cells of the phlebobranch, Ecteinascidia nexa, showed that the intracellular globules were rich in vanadium

Home-based urinary HPV self-sampling for the detection of cervical cancer precursor lesions : attitudes and preferences from Belgian females participating in the CASUS study

Abstract: Background: Cervical cancer (CC) is the fourth most common cancer globally in females, caused by oncogenic infections with high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) strains. Successful CC screening programs strongly depend on the participation rate of the target population. Nevertheless, it remains challenging to reach under screened populations. The CASUS study aimed to develop a complete CC screening solution based on first-void urine (FVU) self-sampling. Here we report on the usability perceptions and preferences from females that participated in the CASUS study by collecting FVU as a liquid biopsy. Methods: Females self-collected FVU samples at home the day before colposcopy using the Colli-Pee\uae UCM FV-5010, a FVU collection device prefilled with 3 mL of UCM preservative, collecting a total volume of 10mL. Afterwards, they completed a questionnaire expressing their usability perceptions and preferences regarding the device. Results: A total of 332 females (26-70y) were enrolled in the CASUS study of which 210 completed the questionnaire. Overall, 66.6% of females preferred FVU self-sampling over a physician taken cervical sample (PTS) (32.9%) for their next CC screening. Out of 159 women who reported prior experience with a urine cup, 79.2% expressed a preference for using the Colli-Pee\uae UCM FV-5010, while 20.8% favored the traditional urine cup. Additionally, 96.6% of females found Colli-Pee\uae UCM FV-5010 easy to use and 97.1% would use the device again. A total of 208 valid System Usability Score (SUS) scores were received with an average of 86.17 \ub1 1.03 Standard Error of Mean (SEM). Conclusion: The results of this study show that the majority of females in this referral cohort would prefer to self-collect a FVU sample at-home over a PTS for their next CC screening. Moreover, Colli-Pee\uae UCM FV-5010 was considered an easy-to-use and well-accepted self-sampling device for CC screening in a Belgian colposcopy referral population. From a future perspective, these results highlight the possibility of home-based FVU self-sampling as a liquid biopsy in CC screening where under screened populations could be approached more easily