NFL Player Injuries Linked to Low 'D'

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Berkeley Heights, N.J. — Vitamin D deficiency may be unusually high among American football players, with black players and those with muscle injuries showing significantly lower levels, Medscape Today reports. 

Berkeley Heights orthopedic surgeon Michael K. Shindle, M.D., led a research team that tested the vitamin D levels of 89 players from the National Football League’s New York Giants in the spring of 2010. 

Investigators found that 27 players — about 30 percent — had deficient total 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels (below 20 ng/mL) and as many as 45 players — just over half — had levels consistent with vitamin D insufficiency (between 20 and 31.9 ng/mL). 

Meanwhile, only 17 players — about 19 percent — had vitamin D levels that were within normal limits.

The percentage of players with abnormal vitamin D levels was “alarming,” according to Dr. Shindle.

Researchers also found that all players who had suffered injuries that caused them to miss at least one practice or game had vitamin D levels significantly lower than players with no muscle injury. 

Of the players tested, 31 were white and 58 black. Noting that blacks generally tend to have lower vitamin D levels than whites, Medscape Today quotes Dr. Shindle as saying, “Up to 93 percent of African-American players had abnormal vitamin D levels, compared with 31 percent of white players.” 

The study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, held recently in San Diego.

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Jul 20, 2011
By: Bill Gillette
Dermatology Times E-News

Scientists ID Sunburn 'Pain Molecule'

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London — Researchers at King’s College here say they have identified the exact molecule that causes the stinging pain of sunburn — a finding, Time.com reports, that could lead to improved treatments for more serious conditions, such as arthritis. 

The culprit is a protein called CXCL5 that attracts inflammatory immune cells to damaged tissue, which in turn triggers sunburn sting. 

To identify the protein, investigators asked healthy participants to expose small areas of their skin to UVB radiation. The exposed patches began to exhibit tenderness after a few hours and hit their pain peak one to two days later. At that point, the research team biopsied the affected skin to look for proteins associated with the pain. 

Several of these pain mediators, including CXCL5, were overexpressed. Scientists then used rats to confirm their theory that CXCL5 was the sunburn-pain culprit and found that CXCL5 was overexpressed in sunburned skin in rats as well. They found that when rats were given an antibody that targeted and neutralized CXCL5, the sensitivity to pain was greatly reduced. 

Time.com quotes study leader professor Stephen McMahon as saying, “We hope that we have identified a potential target which can be utilized to understand more about pain in other inflammatory conditions like arthritis and cystitis. I’m excited about where these findings could take us in terms of eventually developing a new type of analgesic for people who suffer from chronic pain.”

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Jul 13, 2011
By: Bill Gillette
Dermatology Times E-News

Higher 'D' Levels May Lower Diabetes Risk

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Boston — Higher plasma levels of vitamin D are associated with reduced risk of incident diabetes among people at high risk for the disease, Medscape Medical News reports. 

A research team headed by Anastassios G. Pittas, M.D., of Boston’s Tufts New England Medical Center, analyzed data from the Diabetes Prevention Program, a three-group trial comparing intensive lifestyle modification or metformin with placebo for the prevention of diabetes in prediabetes patients. Mean follow-up for the 2,039-person cohort was 3.2 years. Plasma vitamin D levels were measured at yearly intervals, when subjects were assessed for incident diabetes. Only participants in the intensive lifestyle and placebo groups were considered. 

Investigators found that participants with the highest vitamin D levels (50 ng/mL or higher) had a significantly lower hazard ratio for incident diabetes than those with the lowest levels (below 12 ng/mL). Medscape Medical News quotes Dr. Pittas as saying, “This study offers several methodological advantages over previous studies. … Our study also includes a large, clinically relevant population at high risk for diabetes, with a substantial proportion of nonwhite participants, which improves the external validity of the results.” 

Dr. Pittas adds, however, “This is an observational study and therefore confounding cannot be excluded. It would be premature to recommend vitamin D specifically for prevention of diabetes.”

Most of the evidence focused on a favorable effect in pancreatic beta cells, he said.

Jul 6, 2011
By: Bill Gillette
Dermatology Times E-News

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Canada OKs Bellafill Wrinkle Filler

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Ottawa, Ontario — Health Canada has approved the use of the injectable aesthetic filler Bellafill, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Bellafill, manufactured by Suneva Medical, based in San Diego, is known as Artefill in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration approved Artefill, a nonresorbable, longer-lasting wrinkle treatment, in 2006. 

Bellafill is composed of bovine collagen, polymethylmethacrylate beads, and a small amount of the anesthetic lidocaine. 

The Union-Tribune quotes Suneva Chairman and CEO Nicholas Teti as saying, “We are currently evaluating our options for a Canadian launch. In addition, we have established international partnership agreements in several countries around the world and expect a number of international product launches later this year.” 

Suneva was created when Stamford, Conn., venture capital firm Cowen Healthcare Royalty Partners acquired Artefill in 2009 after its creator, Artes Medical, filed for bankruptcy.

July 6, 2011
By: Bill Gillette
Dermatology Times E-News

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US Team Make Human 'Biocollagen' in Plants

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A team of researchers in the USA have successfully synthesised human collagen in transgenic maize seeds, offering a potential alternative to animal-derived material for pharmaceutical applications.

 

Synthetic collagen has a wide range of applications in drug delivery and reconstructive and cosmetic surgery, as well as in the food industry, but at the moment is almost entirely sourced from animals.

"There are risks associated with this collagen containing infectious agents or being rejected by the body," a team of researchers, led by Dr Kan Wang of Iowa State University, said.

Recombinant collagens have already been produced in mammalian, insect and plant cell culture, but growing the material in transgenic plants has advantages in terms of lower cost, higher capacity, a smaller risk of contamination with infective agents or toxins and easier storage prior to processing, according to the team.

One downside of using transgenic plants - which the researchers have now overcome - is that they have been unable to make modifications to the collagen protein that are essential for proper functioning in human cells.

Working in collaboration with industrial partners, the researchers added a gene, which codes for the alpha 1 chain of human collagen, to maize along with genes which make another protein called human prolyl 4-hydroxylase.

This second protein was able to hydroxylate approximately the same percentage of prolines in the recombinant collagen alpha 1 chain as is seen for human collagen made in human cells.

"Producing human collagen in maize seeds is an inexpensive alternative to using animal-derived collagen," said Dr Wang.

"The seeds are easy to grow, process, and store. Our transgenic plant system is also able to produce a protein with human-like modifications making it a better choice for a wide range of applications."

Market research firm GIA estimates that the global market for collagen and other biomaterials such as hyaluronic acid will be worth around $2 billion by 2015 after a slump in 2009-2010, driven by new applications in applications such as dermal implants, implantable devices and tissue engineering.

Published on 05/07/11 at 08:58am

The research is published in the journal BMC Biotechnology (2011, 11:69).

Phil Taylor

This article can also be viewed at http://bit.ly/piTD15 

Healthy Swimming Monday

Tips for Avoiding Swimmer's Ear

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, swimming is the third most popular sports activity in the United States, and for good reason, too. A prospective 32-year study of over 40,000 men found that swimmers had approximately half the mortality risk of non-swimmers, including sedentary people, walkers and runners. Other studies show that water-based exercise improves mood and health-related quality of life, while decreasing joint and muscle pain.

Nevertheless, swimming does come with health concerns. Recreational water illnesses are infections that are spread through swallowing, breathing in or coming in contact with germs from contaminated water in pools, hot tubs, water parks and more. One of the most common recreational water illnesses that affects swimmers of all ages is swimmer's ear, or otitis external. This year, swimmer's ear has been chosen as the theme of National Recreational Water Illness and Injury Prevention Week, observed May 23-29.

Swimmer's ear involves an infection of the outer ear canal, causing pain, itchiness, tenderness and inflammation in the ear. When contaminated water, most often with the germ Pseudomonas, stays in direct contact with the ear canal for a long time, bacteria have an ideal environment in which to grow and multiply. Antibiotics are usually required to treat the infection once it begins.

Although complications due to swimmer's ear are rarely severe, the infection can be very painful and make swimming seem less desirable. Fortunately, swimmer's ear can be prevented by following a few simple precautionary steps.

• Thoroughly dry your ears after swimming. If needed, use alcohol-based ear drops (or pour 1 tsp. of a solution made from 1 part vinegar to 1 part alcohol into each ear) to fully soak up the water.
• Do not put cotton swabs, Q-tips or fingers deep into your ears. These can irritate, scratch, or put small holes into the ear canal, in which bacteria can grow and cause infection.
• Avoid swimming in water with high bacterial or pollution counts.
• If you own a pool or hot tub, use pool test strips to ensure adequate disinfectant and pH levels. Pools should have chlorine levels between 1-3 ppm, hot tubs should have chlorine or bromine levels between 2-5 ppm, and both pools and hot tubs should have pH levels between 7.2-7.8.
• If you have recently had an ear infection or surgery, be sure to get your doctor's permission before you swim again and before using ear drops.

Rita Colwell, PhD, professor in the Johns Hopkins Center for Water and Health, also strongly advises against swimming in the Chesapeake Bay or other water bodies (lakes and ponds) if you have any open cuts or wounds as a way to prevent other water-based infections.

For more information on the health benefits of swimming or on Recreational Water Illness and Injury Prevention Week, visit http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/health_benefits_water_exercise.html and http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/rwi/rwi-prevention-week/. To learn more about swimmer's ear, go to: http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/rwi/illnesses/swimmers-ear.html or http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/swimmers-ear/DS00473.

Stem Cells - Revolutionizing Cosmetic Surgery!

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Experts Meet at ICAS Conference in Istanbul

Esthetic therapies with stem cells from autologous fat are revolutionizing cosmetic surgery: Ever more women prefer breast augmentations with autologous stem cells over silicone implants. The world's leading experts recently met at the ICAS (International Cell Assisted Surgery) Conference in Istanbul to discuss the therapeutic potential of stem cells from fat tissue.

"Stem cell-enriched autologous fat is a safe and sustainable bioimplant ideally suited for local anesthesia natural, scarless breast augmentation and body shaping," says Viennese esthetic and regenerative stem cell therapy expert DDr. Karl-Georg Heinrich, Europe's first doctor offering this therapy. At Clinic DDr. Heinrich® he helps women from all around the world gain larger breasts, harmonious body contours, and a more youthful face with stem cell-enriched autologous fat.

Along with presentations by researchers on the latest findings on adipose-derived stem cells (ADSC) and their esthetic applications, the conference provided experts with ample opportunities for professional interaction. Thus DDr. Heinrich discussed his experiences with adipose-derived stem cells and potential future applications with Japan's Prof. Dr. Yoshimura, Prof. Dr. Illouz, and Dr. Berman.

Doctors all agreed that stem cell enrichment substantially improves long-term sustainability of tissue implanted in autologous fat transfers. Also discussed was the greater safety of esthetic therapies with autologous stem cells over procedures under general anesthesia thanks to gentle local anesthesia.

In addition to stem cell-assisted breast augmentation, stem cells obtained from autologous fat deposits form the foundation for other future-oriented esthetic treatments. For instance, DDr. Heinrich also uses stem cell-enriched autologous fat for sustainable body shaping (e.g., buttocks augmentation), correcting tissue defects, skin rejuvenation over the whole body, and stem-cell facelifts.

June 28, 2011