Tag Archives: hyaluronic acid
High level of RNA HAS2-AS1 in the buffy coat of a patient blood sample is a more informative prognostic marker of COVID-19 clinical course compared to the level of hyaluronic acid in plasma
E. Dubrovskyi*, T. Drevytska, V. Dosenko, D. Stroy
Department of General and Molecular Pathophysiology,
Bogomoletz Institute of Physiology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
*e-mail: udjin1785@gmail.com
Received: 21 March 2024; Revised: 13 May 2024;
Accepted: 25 July 2024; Available on-line: 04 September 2024
Numerous studies have confirmed the association of COVID-19 clinical course with the blood levels of hyaluronic acid and long non-coding RNA HAS2-AS1 as a positive regulator of hyaluronan synthase. We aimed to estimate both the level of hyaluronic acid in plasma and the level of RNA HAS2-AS1 in leukocytes (buffy coat) from the same blood sample at the time of patient admission to the hospital and to analyze the specificity of these indicators as biomarkers of COVID-19 severity. The study involved 78 patients with confirmed COVID-19 who underwent treatment between 2020 and 2021 at the Kyiv City Clinical Hospital N 4. The patients were divided into three groups based on the severity of the disease and classified as mild (n = 12), moderate (n = 36), and severe (n = 30). The level of hyaluronic acid in plasma was determined using the Hyaluronic Acid ELISA kit “Abcam” (USA). The buffy coat was isolated by centrifugation of the blood stabilized with EDTA-K and further aspiration of the leukocyte “cloud”. The expression level of HAS2-AS1 in buffy coat leukocytes was estimated using reverse transcription and real-time PCR. According to the obtained data, the level of hyaluronic acid in the plasma of patients with moderate and severe illness was 1.5 and 2.2 times higher compared to the mild illness group, respectively. Meanwhile, the level of RNA HAS2-AS1 in blood lymphocytes (buffy coat) of patient with moderate and severe illness was increased by 7.7 and 22.6 times compared to patients with mild illness. The results of our study demonstrate that, unlike the level of hyaluronic acid in plasma, the level of HAS2-AS1 in a buffy coat is a more reliable prognostic criterion for severe COVID-19 and allows distinguishing patients with varying clinical severity during hospitalization.
Multifunctional chitosan-based hydrogels: characterization and evaluation of biocompatibility and biodegradability in vitro
N. Manko1, M. Lootsik1, V. Antonyuk1,2, I. Ivasechko1,
N. Skorokhyd1, H. Kosiakova3, O. Mehed’3, T. Horid’ko3,
N. Hula3, O. Klyuchivska1, R. Panchuk1, N. Pokhodylo4,
О. Barabash4, T. Dumych2, R. Stoika1,4*
1Institute of Cell Biology, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Lviv;
2Danylo Halytsky National Medical University of Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine;
3Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
4Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine;
*e-mail: stoika.rostyslav@gmail.com
Received: 29 November 2023; Revised: 31 December 2023;
Accepted: 01 February 2024; Available on-line: 26 February 2024
Creation of novel remedies efficient in supporting wound healing remains an actual task in pharmacology. Hydrogels showed high efficiency in wound healing and tissue regeneration due to viscosity, elasticity and fluidity that provide them with functional characteristics similar to that in extracellular matrix. The aim of the study was to create chitosan-based hydrogels functionalized with different components (chondroitin-6-sulfate, hyaluronic acid, N-stearoylethanolamine) and to estimate their biocompatibility and biodegradability in vitro. For the first time, a lipid substance N-stearoylethanolamine (NSE) known as suppressor of pro-inflammatory cytokines expression was used as hydrogel component (1.95 mg/g). FTIR analysis confirmed the complexation of chitosan molecule with hyaluronate, chondroitin-6-sulfate, NSE. MTT-test and Trypan blue exclusion test were used to study hydrogels cytotoxicity towards human cells of different tissue origin. Biodegradability of hydrogels was evaluated using direct hydrogel contact with cells and cell-independent degradation. It was shown that chondroitin-6-sulfate (<2 mg/ml), hyaluronic acid (<2 mg/ml) and NSE (26 µg/ml) did not demonstrate significant toxic effects towards pseudonormal human cells of the MCF10A, HaCat, HEK293 lines and mouse cells of the Balb/3T3 line. The studied hydrogels were stable in saline solution, while in a complete culture medium containing 10% fetal bovine blood serum they underwent degradation in >24 h. The identified biodegradability of the chitosan-based hydrogels is important for the release of noncovalently immobilized NSE into biological medium. Further studies on laboratory animals with experimental wounds are expected to explore the potential of created hydrogels as anti-inflammatory and wound-healing agents.