Journal of Basic and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology最新文献

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate choroidal and retinal vascular features in patients taking PDE5is by measuring dynamic vascular alterations and neurostructural features of the retina before and after oral tadalafil administration.

Methods: The current clinical research involved 22 patients treated with tadalafil 20 mg on alternate days (OAD) after nerve-sparing robotic radical prostatectomy (NS-RARP) for prostate cancer. Patients underwent SD-OCT to assess ganglion cell complex (GCC), retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), and subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT), as well as OCTA to assess superficial capillary plexus (SCP), deep capillary plexus (DCP), choriocapillaris (CC), foveal avascular zone (FAZ), and radial peripapillary capillary thickness (RPC). All patients were evaluated at baseline (t0), and 3 (t1) and 6 (t2) months after the use of oral tadalafil.

Results: A statistically significant reduction in DCP and CC vessel density was found at t2 compared to baseline. According to the SFCT parameter, a statistically significant increase was observed from t0 to t1, and from t1 to t2. GCC parameter increased at t2 compared to baseline in a statistically significant way. No statistically significant differences were recorded between t0, t1 and t2 for the SCP, RPC, FAZ area, RNFL parameter.

Conclusions: Retinal and optic disc toxicity may be detected using modifications of capillary vessel density. Further studies are needed to detect the possible progression or regression of ocular or systemic vascular complications in long-term follow-up.

Objectives: Electroencephalographic (EEG) readings are usually infected with unavoidable artifacts, especially physiological ones. One such physiological artifact is the ocular artifacts (OAs) that are generally related to eyes and are characterized by high magnitude and a specific spike pattern in the prefrontal region of the brain. During the long-duration EEG acquisition, the retrieval of important information becomes quite complicated in prefrontal regions as ocular artifacts dominate the EEG recorded, making it difficult to discern underlying brain activity.

Methods: With the progress and development in signal processing techniques, artifact handling has become a progressive field of investigation. This paper presents a framework for the detection and correction of ocular artifacts. This study emphasizes improving the quality and reducing the time complexity by using higher-order statistics (HOS) for artifact identification and variational mode decomposition (VMD) for OA correction.

Results: An overall SNR of 14 dB, MAE of 0.09, and PSNR of 33.59 dB has been attained by the proposed framework.

Conclusions: It was observed that the proposed HOS-VMD surpassed the state-of-the-art mode decomposition techniques.

This review critically examines the issue of thigh tendon reinjury in athletes, drawing on recent advancements and diverse perspectives in sports medicine. The findings underscore the paramount importance of an early and accurate diagnosis, which significantly influences treatment efficacy and rehabilitation outcomes. We explore the intricacies of tendon anatomy and the mechanisms underlying injuries, highlighting how these factors interplay with athlete-specific risk profiles to affect reinjury rates. A major finding from the review is the necessity for individualized rehabilitation approaches that integrate both traditional methods and emerging technologies. These technologies show promise in enhancing monitoring and facilitating precise adjustments to rehabilitation protocols, thus improving recovery trajectories. Additionally, the review identifies a common shortfall in current practices - premature to play (RTP) - which often results from inadequate adherence to tailored rehabilitation strategies or underestimation of the injury's severity. Such premature RTP significantly heightens the risk of further injury. Through this synthesis of contemporary research and expert opinion, the review advocates for a multidisciplinary approach in managing thigh tendon injuries, emphasizing the need for ongoing research to refine RTP criteria and optimize rehabilitation techniques. The ultimate goal is to support athletes in achieving safer and more effective recoveries, thereby reducing the likelihood of tendon reinjury.

Bimagrumab is a human monoclonal antibody that prevents activin type II receptors (ActRII) from functioning. This antibody has a higher affinity for muscle activin-2 receptors than natural ligands such as activin and myostatin, which act as negative muscle growth regulators. Blocking the activin receptor with bimagrumab could be a new pharmaceutical approach for managing patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Bimagrumab has anabolic effects on skeletal muscle mass by preventing myostatin binding and other negative muscle growth regulators. Preclinical animal models have also shown that ActRII blockade promotes actions beyond skeletal muscle, including effects on brown adipose tissue (BAT) differentiation and activity. In a phase 2 randomized clinical trial, ActRII blockade with bimagrumab led to significant loss of total body fat mass (FM), lean mass (LM) gain, and metabolic improvements over 48 weeks in overweight or obese patients with type 2 diabetes. The trial involved [number of participants], and the results showed [specific findings]. Currently, Bimagrumab is being evaluated for its potential to treat muscle wasting, functional loss in hip fractures and sarcopenia, as well as obesity. However, it is essential to note that Bimagrumab also blocks the effects of other ActRII ligands, which play a role in the neurohormonal axes, pituitary, gonads, and adrenal glands. These observations suggest that bimagrumab might represent a new approach for treating patients with obesity and related metabolic disturbances.

Objectives: Health care workers were exposed to huge stress during COVID-19 pandemic affecting their physical and mental health. Practice of anulom vilom pranayama and heartfulness meditation (AVPHFN) can improve mental and physical health and counter stress. The present study explored the effect of 8-week AVPHFN intervention on autonomic functions, emotional stress, oxidative stress, and inflammation markers in the nurse group of health-care givers.

Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial where 50 nurses underwent AVPHFN and 50 participated as controls. At baseline and after 8 week intervention of AVPHFN anthropometric parameters, cardiovascular parameters, autonomic function including time and frequency domain parameters, biochemical parameters, and psychological stress using the questionnaire were assessed.

Results: Forty nurses in AVPHFN group and 46 in control group completed the study. AVPHFN intervention resulted in a significant reduction in cardiovascular parameters heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure and rate pressure product (p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, and p<0.001, respectively), perceived stress score and depression, anxiety, and stress scale psychological variables of depression, and stress compared to the control group. Total power, ratio of low frequency to high frequency and change in successive normal sinus (NN) intervals exceeds 50 ms (p<0.01, p=0.05, and p<0.01 respectively) suggesting parasympathodominance due to higher vagal efferent activity. Serum cortisol, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6 and telomerase significantly decreased in AVPHFN group post intervention.

Conclusions: Eighty-week intervention of AVPHFN improved psychophysiological, autonomic and biochemistry profile of nurse group of health-care workers. AVPHFN module may be beneficial for curtailing stress and improving well-being.

Objectives: Our study aims to compare the effects of an 8-week high-intensity interval training (HIIT) vs. moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) on cardiometabolic risk factors and on serum leptin levels in overweight and obese individuals.

Methods: Our quasi-experimental study involved 36 students who were assigned to HIIT, MICT or the control group. Using a bicycle ergometer, participants in the HIIT group performed 25 min of HIIT and those in the MICT group performed 35 min of moderate-intensity continuous exercise for three days a week for 8 weeks. Body composition estimated by bioimpedance analysis, blood lipids and serum leptin were measured pre-exercise and 8 weeks post-exercise.

Results: After 8 weeks of exercise, the participants in the MICT group showed a significant reduction in weight (p<0.01) and body mass index (BMI) (p<0.05). In the HIIT group, although weight reduction was noticed, the difference was not statistically significant compared to the pre-exercise values. In the control group, participants had a significant increase in their weight, BMI, and total body fat (p<0.05). On performing an inter-group comparison of the magnitude of change in body weight and BMI over 8 weeks of exercise, no difference was seen between the HIIT and MICT groups. No difference was observed in body fat indices and levels of random blood glucose, blood lipids and serum leptin pre and 8 weeks post-exercise.

Conclusions: On comparing the change in body weight and BMI over 8 weeks, no significant difference was found between the HIIT and MICT groups. However, HIIT was notably more time efficient.

Thyroid hormones (THs) are critical regulators of muscle metabolism in both healthy and unhealthy conditions. Acting concurrently as powerful anabolic and catabolic factors, THs are endowed with a vital role in muscle mass maintenance. As a result, thyroid dysfunctions are the leading cause of a wide range of muscle pathologies, globally identified as myopathies. Whether muscle wasting is a common feature in patients with hyperthyroidism and is mainly caused by THs-dependent stimulation of muscle proteolysis, also muscle growth is often associated with hyperthyroid conditions, linked to THs-dependent stimulation of muscle protein synthesis. Noteworthy, also hypothyroid status negatively impacts on muscle physiology, causing muscle weakness and fatigue. Most of these symptoms are due to altered balance between muscle protein synthesis and breakdown. Thus, a comprehensive understanding of THs-dependent skeletal muscle protein turnover might facilitate the management of physical discomfort or weakness in conditions of thyroid disease. Herein, we describe the molecular mechanisms underlying the THs-dependent alteration of skeletal muscle structure and function associated with muscle atrophy and hypertrophy, thus providing new insights for targeted modulation of skeletal muscle dynamics.