Biomedical Research and Therapy

Bibliometric analysis and review of research frontiers on Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 4 channels

Siti Yusrina Nadihah Jamaludin — 2023-05-31

The transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) channel is a member of the TRP vanilloid subfamily in the TRP superfamily of ion channels. This study aimed to provide an overview of the research progression on TRPV4 channels, from initial discovery to present, using bibliometric methods. TRPV4 channel-related articles published from 2000 onwards were retrieved from the Scopus database. Microsoft Excel and Harzing's Publish or Perish were used for the quantitative analysis of several characteristics of the retrieved articles. VOSviewer was used to construct networks based on the co-occurrence of author keywords. From 2000 onwards, 877 TRPV4 channel-related English language articles written were published and included in the final bibliometric analysis. The number of publications appeared to fluctuate over the years; however, the number is predicted to increase over time. The Journal of Biological Chemistry ranked top for publishing 46 papers. Our co-occurrence analysis of author keywords revealed four main clusters: ``Cardiovascular-related,'' ``Channelopathies,'' ``Tumorigenesis,'' and ``Smooth muscle regulation.'' Our study also highlighted four main research frontiers of TRPV4: glaucoma, mitochondria, inflammation, and cell signaling. This is the first study to examine and demonstrate the trends and outlook for TRPV4 channel research using bibliometrics.

Interleukin-17A enhances osteogenic differentiation by activating ERK/MAPK in stem cells derived from human exfoliated deciduous teeth

Abd Mutalib Mohd Nor Ridzuan — 2023-05-31

Introduction: Human exfoliated deciduous teeth–derived stem cells (SHEDs) have been shown as an excellent source of bone regeneration. Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) facilitates bone differentiation in various cell types, including SHEDs. In this study, we have demonstrated IL-17A’s stimulating effect on SHEDs in osteogenic differentiation and further evaluated the role of the ERK/MAPK signaling pathway in this process.

Methods: The function of IL-17A in osteogenic differentiation, proliferative activity, and MAPK cascade activation in SHEDs were investigated.

Results: IL-17A significantly enhanced proliferative and alkaline phosphatase activities in SHEDs. Furthermore, the expression levels of different osteogenic proteins including COL1A1, ALP, OPN, RUNX, and OCN were significantly elevated in IL-17A-treated SHEDs. Moreover, IL-17A triggered MAPK signaling in SHEDs, as evidenced by significant upregulation of both downstream ERK targets, P38 and JNK pathways, and upstream activators. In addition, ERK/MAPK activation time-dependently established the participation of MAPK signaling in SHED osteogenic differentiation.

Conclusion: These findings suggest that IL-17A-induced ERK/MAPK signaling pathway activation is necessary for SHEDs to differentiate into osteoblasts. This reiterates the significance of this particular intracellular signaling pathway in controlling SHED osteogenic differentiation, which is a promising source of bone tissue regeneration.

Successful treatment of pelvic venous incompetence by a single-stage combined laparoscopic intervention: A case report

Andrey A. Semendyaev — 2023-05-31

Introduction: Pelvic venous incompetence (PVI) is the most common chronic pathology, mainly affecting women of different ages. Its characteristic signs include pelvic venous fullness syndrome and chronic pelvic pain, contributing to temporary disability and impaired reproductive function. While there are known surgical treatment methods for pelvic pain in PVI, they have numerous complications.

Case presentation: A 39-year-old female patient presented with PVI and chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, and infertility. They underwent simultaneous combined reconstructiveplastic conservative surgical treatment under 3D laparoscopic video monitoring.

Conclusion: The patient's treatment outcome was characterized by decreased pelvic pain, normalized menstrual function, and a long-awaited uterine pregnancy ending with the birth of a full-term baby. The two successively performed surgical treatment procedures had a cumulative therapeutic effect, relieving the patient's varicose pelvic pain due to various causes and restoring their reproductive function.

Anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade-based therapy using pembrolizumab in a patient with high-grade glioblastoma

Mehrdad Payandeh — 2023-05-31

Background: Glioblastoma is a grade IV glioma tumor, and is the most frequent neoplasia in the central nervous system. Patients with glioblastoma have a very low overall survival rate and poor prognosis. Their major therapeutic challenges are the limited penetration of therapeutic agents through the blood-brain barrier, increased treatment resistance, and tumor heterogeneity.

Case presentation: Anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint blockade-based therapy using pembrolizumab achieved good stability and non-recurrence in a Kurdish patient with highgrade glioblastoma who was refractory to first-line therapy.

Conclusion: It appears that after the failure of routine and standard treatments in patients with glioblastoma, an immunotherapy-based therapeutic strategy is suitable for improving their clinical outcomes and creating antitumor effects.