Journal of musculoskeletal & neuronal interactions最新文献

Objectives: Force sense (FS) is a proprioceptive component related with functionality, but no specific tests have been developed for pelvic floor (PF). We aimed to evaluate the test-retest reliability of a novel pelvic proprioceptive test (PPT) to explore FS and its relationship with maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) in female athletes.

Methods: A total of 42 female athletes (from 18 to 45 years old) were evaluated with digital intravaginal palpation and graded according to modified Oxford grading scale (MOGS) to ensure they had at least a grade 2 in MOGS and a correct PF contraction. All participants completed the PPT twice, 10 minutes apart, to obtain FS proprioceptive error (cmH2O). MVC was also obtained with manometry during the PPT. A perineometer-manometer was used for evaluations.

Results: The test-retest reliability was excellent for force sense (ICC = 0.94, p < 0.001), with an average of 6.2 ± 4.6 cmH2O of proprioceptive error. A strong correlation was found between FS error and MVC (r = 0.82, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The novel PPT shows excellent test-retest reliability for assessing FS in terms of absolute proprioceptive error in female athletes and correlates with MVC: increased MVC strength is associated with reduced FS accuracy.

Objectives: Postmenopausal women develop estrogen deficiency which produces a pro-resorptive bone environment, leading to osteoporosis and increased fracture risk. Craniectomies are a common clinical procedure, especially in older populations, where calvarial bone is removed to relieve intracranial pressure (i.e., in the case of traumatic brain injury or stroke). Cranial reconstruction surgeries often result in failure due to infection or resorption of autograft material. Despite the need for calvarial bone graft alternatives for older patients, there is limited literature available on the effects of estrogen deficiency on skull bone metabolism and healing.

Methods: The purpose of this work was to assess the effects of short-term ovariectomy (OVX) on calvarial bone properties and on the healing of 3.5 mm unilateral calvarial defects.

Results: Surprisingly, the intact calvarial bone of OVX rats had higher bone volume, thickness, and number of remodeling cavities than intact calvaria of sham rats. Normalized measures of bone volume showed consistently more calvarial defect healing in OVX compared to sham rats at 4-, 8-, and 12-weeks post-surgery.

Conclusion: These findings have implications for future investigations on therapies for treating calvarial bone defects in ovariectomy-induced osteoporotic rats.

Objectives: Osteoporosis (OP) is a major public health concern characterized by increased bone fragility. This study aimed to investigate the causal relationship between circulating metabolites, particularly lipid-related metabolites, and OP using Mendelian Randomization (MR).

Methods: A bidirectional two-sample MR approach was applied using summary statistics from large-scale Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) comprising 484,598 individuals of European ancestry. Genetic variants associated with circulating metabolites were selected as instrumental variables. Causal effects were estimated using inverse variance weighting (IVW), weighted median, and MR-Egger methods. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess heterogeneity and pleiotropy.

Results: MR analyses indicated a potential causal relationship between higher levels of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and a reduced risk of OP (OR = 0.997; 95% CI: 0.994-0.999; P = 0.013). Conversely, increased total lipids in lipoprotein particles were associated with a higher OP risk (OR = 1.002; 95% CI: 1.000-1.004; P = 0.031). In addition, OP was inversely associated with total lipids (OR = 0.269; 95% CI: 0.095-0.759; P = 0.013) and triglycerides (OR = 0.259; 95% CI: 0.090-0.745; P = 0.012) in chylomicrons and extremely large very-low-density lipoproteins. No evidence of pleiotropy or heterogeneity was detected.

Conclusion: This study provides genetic evidence for causal links between lipid metabolism and OP, suggesting that circulating lipid metabolites may serve as potential biomarkers for risk stratification and prevention.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of musculoskeletal ultrasound in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and to assess its correlation with pain stratification, with the goal of supporting early diagnosis and personalized pain management in KOA.

Methods: A total of 128 patients with KOA were retrospectively selected. Based on their visual analogue scale (VAS) scores, the patients were categorized into mild, moderate, and severe KOA groups. Line charts and histograms were used to illustrate the distribution and variation of pain levels and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores. Scatter plots were generated to analyze the correlation between musculoskeletal ultrasound findings and pain scores.

Results: Preliminary analysis revealed a significant correlation between ultrasound findings and both VAS and WOMAC scores (P < 0.05). Line charts demonstrated an upward trend in VAS scores with increasing pain severity. Histograms indicated significant differences in the distribution of WOMAC scores across different pain stratification levels.

Conclusion: Musculoskeletal ultrasound demonstrates strong diagnostic value in KOA and shows a significant correlation with pain stratification. This non-invasive imaging modality may serve as an effective clinical tool for individualized pain assessment and informed treatment planning.

Objectives: To explore the role of cathepsin D (CTSD), a lysosomal aspartyl protease, as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target in the context of osteoporosis.

Methods: Utilizing single-cell sequencing data from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database, we identified differential expression patterns of CTSD in human femoral head tissues between osteoporotic and non-osteoporotic states. Human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were treated with recombinant human CTSD and/or osteogenic induction medium and the role of CTSD on osteoblast differentiation were investigated by RT-qPCR, western blot, immunofluorescence staining and alizarin red staining. The role of CTSD on osteoporotic changes was further verified in ovariectomized mice.

Results: In vitro analyses of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) treated with recombinant human CTSD (rhCTSD) under osteogenic induction conditions revealed modulation of osteogenic marker expression, including ALP, COL1A1, and RUNX2. Histological assessments using Alizarin Red staining and immunofluorescence corroborated these findings, demonstrating that CTSD influences osteoblast differentiation and matrix mineralization. In vivo studies in mice further supported the role of CTSD, showing that perturbations in this enzyme result in alterations in bone mineral density and volume characteristic of osteoporotic changes.

Conclusion: Collectively, these findings implicate CTSD as a regulator of bone homeostasis and support its potential as a novel target for therapeutic intervention in osteoporosis.

Objectives: Water Polo (WP) is a physiologically and physically demanding sport that involves frequent directional changes during swimming.

Methods: This study, shoulder proprioception, muscle strength, and endurance were evaluated using an isokinetic dynamometer in 28 male Sports Club WP athletes competing in the WP 1st league. In addition, swimming, agility, and speed performance tests were performed.

Results: There was a moderate negative correlation between shoulder joint muscle strength and the shuttle swimming test, WP agility test, and 20-m maximum speed swimming test (Peak Torque 60° respectively r:-0.443, p:0.018, r:-0.490, p:0.008, r=-0.581, p:0.001). In the multiple regression analysis performed in our study, ANOVA test results in Models 4, 5, and 6 showed that there was a significant relationship between shoulder joint muscle strength and shuttle swimming test and 20-m maximum speed swimming test (respectively, F:2.912, p:0.044, F:5.004, p:0.005).

Conclusions: Our study determined that shoulder joint proprioception was not associated with swimming, agility and speed performance, shoulder joint isokinetic muscle strength affected swimming and speed performance but not agility, and shoulder joint endurance was associated with swimming, agility and speed performance in WP players.

Objective: This study examined the effects of vibration frequency and additional loading on lower limb muscle activation and coactivation during whole-body vibration (WBV) training in recreational runners.

Methods: Twenty-five male runners performed WBV training at six frequencies (0-50 Hz) under two loading conditions (no load vs. 20% body mass). Surface electromyography was used to record electromyography root mean square (EMGrms) in 11 lower limb muscles. Coactivation of six muscles was analyzed using the time-varying multi-muscle coactivation function. 1D statistical parametric mapping and two-way repeated-measures ANOVA were used to assess differences.

Results: EMGrms was significantly influenced by vibration frequency and loading. Additional loading increased activation in the gluteus maximus, quadriceps, hamstrings, and soleus (p < 0.001). Frequency effects were notable in the gluteus maximus and hamstrings, with 10-30 Hz inducing higher muscular activation than the no-vibration case (p < 0.01). Coactivation was significantly high with loading (p < 0.001), particularly during the eccentric squat phase, but frequency had no significant effect.

Conclusion: Additional loading enhances muscle activation and coactivation, and vibration frequency primarily affects muscular activation. These findings highlight the importance of external load and frequency in optimizing WBV training for enhancing sports performance and preventing injuries in runners.

Objective: To identify pivotal gene markers and pathways involved in intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) through the construction of a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network.

Methods: A ceRNA network was constructed using mRNAs associated with clinical IDD phenotypes (age, MRI grade), identified through Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA). From the core mRNAs within the ceRNA network, potential marker genes were identified using LASSO regression, Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Random Forest algorithms. A sub-network was then constructed, and the candidate marker genes were further validated using the mouse IDD dataset GSE134955.

Results: A total of 119 differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (DELs), 1,267 differentially expressed mRNAs (DEMs), and 37 differentially expressed microRNAs (DEMis) were identified in IDD samples compared to controls. WGCNA identified 1,190 DEMs significantly associated with MRI grade. Based on these MRI grade-associated DEMs, a hub ceRNA network comprising 4 DEMis, 90 DELs, and 18 DEMs was established. Among these, three DEMs-BTG2, MDM4, and ACOX1-were consistently identified as marker genes by LASSO, SVM, and Random Forest. These three genes also demonstrated high accuracy in distinguishing IDD from control samples in the independent mouse dataset.

Conclusion: This study identified key mRNAs implicated in IDD progression and provides new insights into the regulatory roles of ceRNA networks in the disease. These findings may contribute to the development of novel diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets for IDD.

Objective: To analyze the risk factors for secondary cauda equina injury in lumbar spinal stenosis using LASSO logistic regression and to construct a risk prediction model in the form of a nomogram.

Methods: Patients with lumbar spinal stenosis were divided into a secondary injury group (90 cases) and a non-secondary injury group (110 cases). LASSO logistic regression was applied, and a risk nomogram was generated. The predictive efficacy of the model was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and calibration curves.

Results: The ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of the risk nomogram model was 0.865 (95% CI: 0.755-0.948), with a sensitivity of 91.11% (82/90), specificity of 93.64% (103/110), and accuracy of 92.50% (185/200). The risk nomogram model demonstrated good fit (χ² = 3.347, df = 7, P = 0.341), and the C-index of Bootstrap internal validation was 0.823.

Conclusion: Age > 60 years, disease duration > 1 year, multiple stenosis segments, small median sagittal diameter, small cross-sectional area of the spinal canal, and shorter segment length are risk factors for secondary cauda equina injury in patients with lumbar spinal stenosis. The risk prediction model based on this nomogram has good clinical application value.

Creating interventions benefits from an interdisciplinary team with varying types of expertise. Novelty in intervention creation can be extended beyond the addition of new technologies to include innovations in methodologies used to create interventions. The purpose of this paper is to use and expand a previously introduced model to sustain new interdisciplinary research collaborations: Forging Alliances in Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation Research (FAIRR). In this paper, we propose to expand FAIRR by incorporating theories and frameworks central to intervention creation, altering inputs (resources necessary to construct interventions), modifying activities (tasks that teams undertake to create interventions), and including the iterative nature of the relationship among the components of the model. A case application is used to underscore how the FAIRR model can be applied to creating an intervention using a mixed methods approach.