The invention features compositions featuring (a) one or more of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and human C-terminal CTGF peptide; and (b) one or more of insulin and IGF-1; and methods of using such compositions to reduce cardiac tissue damage associated with an ischemic event or to enhance engraftment of a cell in a cardiac tissue.

The invention features compositions featuring (a) one or more of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and human C-terminal CTGF peptide; and (b) one or more of insulin and IGF-1; and methods of using such compositions to reduce cardiac tissue damage associated with an ischemic event or to enhance engraftment of a cell in a cardiac tissue.

The invention features compositions featuring (a) one or more of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and human C-terminal CTGF peptide; and (b) one or more of insulin and IGF-1; and methods of using such compositions to reduce cardiac tissue damage associated with an ischemic event or to enhance engraftment of a cell in a cardiac tissue.

The present invention relates to a method for prognosis the risk of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in premature infant by adjusting a score obtained from lung ultrasound with the gestational age of the infant.

A method of producing an osteoinductive composition for in vivo use, in which the method includes obtaining bone tissue; cleaning the bone tissue with a plurality of washes; milling, grinding, and/or cutting the cleaned bone tissue into a plurality of bone pieces or fibers of a desired size; and demineralizing the plurality of bone pieces or fibers of a desired size to expose one or more native bone proteins, with demineralizing including combining the plurality of bone pieces or fibers in a reaction vessel with an ionic acid solution, soaking the plurality of bone pieces or fibers in the ionic acid solution, and exposing the one or more native proteins in the bone pieces or fibers.

A method of producing an osteoinductive composition for in vivo use, in which the method includes obtaining bone tissue; cleaning the bone tissue with a plurality of washes; milling, grinding, and/or cutting the cleaned bone tissue into a plurality of bone pieces or fibers of a desired size; and demineralizing the plurality of bone pieces or fibers of a desired size to expose one or more native bone proteins, with demineralizing including combining the plurality of bone pieces or fibers in a reaction vessel with an ionic acid solution, soaking the plurality of bone pieces or fibers in the ionic acid solution, and exposing the one or more native proteins in the bone pieces or fibers.

A pharmaceutical composition is provided that is useful to enhance the repair of articular cartilage, to treat a joint injury or to prevent, inhibit or treat osteoarthritis in a mammal. The composition may include an effective amount of an isolated protein that is a chemoattractant for chondrogenic progenitor cells and/or an effective amount of an isolated protein that is a chondro genic factor or a nucleic acid sequence that encodes a chondrogenic factor.

A pharmaceutical composition is provided that is useful to enhance the repair of articular cartilage, to treat a joint injury or to prevent, inhibit or treat osteoarthritis in a mammal. The composition may include an effective amount of an isolated protein that is a chemoattractant for chondrogenic progenitor cells and/or an effective amount of an isolated protein that is a chondro genic factor or a nucleic acid sequence that encodes a chondrogenic factor.

In alternative embodiments, the invention provides methods for treating, ameliorating or protecting (preventing) an individual or a patient against a disease, an infection or a condition responsive to an increased paracrine polypeptide level in vivo comprising: providing a paracrine polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid or gene operatively linked to a transcriptional regulatory sequence; or an expression vehicle, a vector, a recombinant virus, or equivalent, having contained therein a paracrine-encoding nucleic acid or gene, and the expression vehicle, vector, recombinant virus, or equivalent can express the paracrine-encoding nucleic acid or gene in a cell or in vivo; and administering or delivering the paracrine polypeptide-encoding nucleic acid or gene operatively linked to a transcriptional regulatory sequence, or the expression vehicle, vector, recombinant virus, or equivalent, to an individual or a patient in need thereof, thereby treating, ameliorating or protecting (preventing) the individual or patient against the disease, infection or condition responsive to an increased paracrine polypeptide level.

Embodiments of the invention provide swallowable devices, preparations and methods for delivering drugs and other therapeutic agents within the GI tract. Particular embodiments provide a swallowable device such as a capsule for delivering drugs into the intestinal wall or other GI lumen. Embodiments also provide various drug preparations that are configured to be contained within the capsule, advanced from the capsule into the intestinal wall and degrade within the wall to release the drug to produce a therapeutic effect. The preparation can be coupled to a delivery mechanism having one or more balloons or other expandable devices which are expandable responsive to a condition in the small intestine or other GI lumen to advance the preparation out of the capsule into the intestinal wall. Embodiments of the invention are particularly useful for the delivery of drugs which are poorly absorbed, tolerated and/or degraded within the GI tract.