Wuhan University

About: Wuhan University is a education organization based out in Wuhan, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Population. The organization has 92849 authors who have published 92882 publications receiving 1691049 citations. The organization is also known as: WHU & Wuhan College.

Bioactive electrospun scaffolds delivering growth factors and genes for tissue engineering applications.

Abstract: A biomaterial scaffold is one of the key factors for successful tissue engineering. In recent years, an increasing tendency has been observed toward the combination of scaffolds and biomolecules, e.g. growth factors and therapeutic genes, to achieve bioactive scaffolds, which not only provide physical support but also express biological signals to modulate tissue regeneration. Huge efforts have been made on the exploration of strategies to prepare bioactive scaffolds. Within the past five years, electrospun scaffolds have gained an exponentially increasing popularity in this area because of their ultrathin fiber diameter and large surface-volume ratio, which is favored for biomolecule delivery. This paper reviews current techniques that can be used to prepare bioactive electrospun scaffolds, including physical adsorption, blend electrospinning, coaxial electrospinning, and covalent immobilization. In addition, this paper also analyzes the existing challenges (i.e., protein instability, low gene transfection efficiency, and difficulties in accurate kinetics prediction) to achieve biomolecule release from electrospun scaffolds, which necessitate further research to fully exploit the biomedical applications of these bioactive scaffolds.

Liver impairment in COVID-19 patients: A retrospective analysis of 115 cases from a single centre in Wuhan city, China.

Abstract: Background The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is an ongoing global health emergency. The aim of our study was to investigate the changes of liver function and its clinical significance in COVID-19 patients. Method This retrospective, single-centre study was conducted on 115 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Zhongnan hospital of Wuhan University from 18 January 2020 to 22 February 2020. Liver function and related indexes were analysed to evaluate its relationship with disease progression in COVID-19 patients. Results Part of the COVID-19 patients presented with varying degrees of abnormality in liver function indexes. However, the levels of ALT, AST, TBIL, GGT and LDH in COVID-19 patients were not significantly different when compared with hospitalised community-acquired pneumonia patients, and the levels of albumin is even significantly higher. The levels of ALT, AST, TBIL, LDH and INR showed statistically significant elevation in severe COVID-19 cases compared with that in mild cases. However, the clinical significance of the elevation is unremarkable. Majority of severe COVID-19 patients showed significantly decreasing in albumin level and continuously decreasing in the progress of illness. Most of the liver function indexes in COVID-19 patients were correlated with CRP and NLR, the markers of inflammation. Logistic regression analysis further identified NLR as the independent risk factor for severe COVID-19, as well as age. Conclusions Although abnormalities of liver function indexes are common in COVID-19 patients, the impairment of liver function is not a prominent feature of COVID-19, and also may not have serious clinical consequences.