1. Update October 2023 Francine Blei, MD
2. Drobot, D., et al. (2023). ``Biomaterials in the clinical treatment of Iymphedema - a systematic review.'' J Vasc Surg Venous Lymphat Disord. EPub09/09/2023. OBJECTIVE: Lymphedema is a chronic condition caused by impaired Iymphatic fluid drainage, resulting in progressive edema. The current mainstay of lymphedema therapy consists of conservative therapy and surgical therapy. In this systematic review, we investigated the novel role of biomaterials in clinical lymphedema therapy and assessed their objective outcomes as well as the complication rate associated with their use. METHODS: Studies were identified through systematic review using Embase and Pub-Med/MEDLINE database. Only original articles reporting the use of biomaterials for clinical Iymphedema therapy were included. The primary outcome measure was the objective reduction in limb volume following biomaterial use. The secondary outcome measure was the assessment of biomaterial safety. RESULTS: A total of 354 articles were identified in the first search, out of which 10 were identified to meet our inclusion criteria. These articles described the use of two biomaterials, Nanofibrillar collagen scaffold (NCS) and Silicone tubes (ST), for the treatment of Iymphedema. NCS implantation showed average excess limb volume reduction of 1-10.7% and clear evidence of Iymphangiogenesis on imaging. No complications were documented following NCS implantation. ST implantation showed an average limb volume reduction of 700 and 887 ml, and limb circumference reduction that ranged between 3.1 and 8 cm in patients with advanced stage Iymphedema. Out of 177 patients that were treated with ST implantation, only 11 (6.2%) developed local inflammation. CONCLUSION: Both NCS and ST implantation showed promising limb volume reduction, but due to scarce available literature, additional research is needed to determine their effectiveness.
3. In vivo vascularized scaffold with different shear-exposed models for lymphatic tissue regeneration
4. Akwii, R. G., et al. (2023). ``Murine Dermal Lymphatic Endothelial Cell Isolation.'' J Vis Exp(197). EPub 07/21/2023. The Iymphatic system participates in the regulation of immune surveillance, lipid absorption, and tissue fluid balance. The isolation of murine Iymphatic endothelial cells is an important process for Iymphatic research, as it allows the performance of in vitro and biochemical experiments on the isolated cells. Moreover, the development of Cre-lox technology has enabled the tissuespecific deficiency of genes that cannot be globally targeted, leading to the precise determination of their role in the studied tissues. The dissection of the role of certain genes in Iymphatic physiology and pathophysiology requires the use of Iymphatic-specific promoters, and thus, the experimental verification of the expression levels of the targeted genes. Methods for efficient isolation of Iymphatic endothelial cells from wild-type or transgenic mice enable the use of ex vivo and in vitro assays to study the mechanisms regulating the Iymphatic functions and the identification of the expression levels of the studied proteins. We have developed, standardized and present a protocol for the efficient isolation of murine dermal Iymphatic endothelial cells (DLECs) via magnetic bead purification based on LYVE-1 expression. The protocol outlined aims to equip researchers with a tool to further understand and elucidate important players of Iymphatic endothelial cell functions, especially in facilities where fluorescence-activated cell sorting equipment is not available.
5. Ammassam Veettil, R., et al. (2023). ``A Mouse Model for Corneal Neovascularization by Alkali Burn.'' J Vis Exp(196). EPub 06/30/2023. Corneal neovascularization (CoNV), a pathological form of angiogenesis, involves the growth of blood and Iymph