European Journal of Translational Myology最新文献

In contrast to invasive skeletal muscle biopsies and the associated complexity of tissue sampling techniques and potential detrimental side effects, the alternative application of liquid biopsy procedures has considerable advantages concerning minimal invasiveness, repeated sampling options, assay robustness and cost effectiveness. This article outlines the current status of serum biomarkers used for diagnosing and characterizing Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a primary muscle wasting disease of early childhood due to primary abnormalities in the extremely large DMD gene. Reviewed are important aspects of the discovery, characterization and diagnostic value of biofluid-based protein markers of dystrophinopathy. This includes an overview of traditional general skeletal muscle damage markers, such as creatine kinase, myoglobin and lactate dehydrogenase, which have been used for many decades in clinical applications to evaluate patients with muscular weakness. In addition, this article outlines the biochemical identification of novel biomarker candidates focusing on the usage of mass spectrometry-based proteomic surveys to establish comprehensive profiles of protein alterations in dystrophinopathy. Pathoproteomic serum markers of myonecrosis with great potential for improved patient screening, differential diagnosis, stage-specific prognosis and therapeutic monitoring include specific isoforms of muscle-derived cytosolic proteins, such as carbonic anhydrase isoform CA3 and fatty acid binding protein FABP3, as well as sarcomeric proteins, including specific isoforms of myosin light chain, myosin binding protein, troponin, and myomesin, in addition to peptide fragments derived from the giant protein titin. Biofluid-associated marker proteins of reactive myofibrosis include the extracellular matrix proteins fibronectin, osteopontin, collagen and matrix-metalloproteinases.

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the effect of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) with estrogen and progesterone on Intraocular Pressure (IOP) in postmenopausal women, with the objective of determining whether HRT can lower IOP and potentially reduce glaucoma risk. Following PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive search was conducted up to June 2024. Eligible studies included randomized controlled trials and observational studies that reported IOP changes in postmenopausal women undergoing HRT. The pooled mean differences in IOP were calculated using both random-effects and fixed-effect models. The meta-analysis included 9 studies with a total of 1,024 participants. The pooled analysis showed a significant reduction in IOP among women receiving HRT compared to controls, with a mean difference of 3.84 mmHg (95% CI: 2.26 to 5.41, p < 0.01) in the random-effects model, and 2.36 mmHg (95% CI: 2.08 to 2.64, p < 0.01) in the fixed-effect model. Despite these significant results, there was high heterogeneity across studies (I² = 97%), likely due to variations in hormone types, dosages, and treatment durations. HRT is associated with a significant decrease in IOP in postmenopausal women, potentially offering protective benefits against glaucoma, although further research is needed to address the observed variability.

Aim of the present study was to assess the level of catastrophizing pain and kinesiophobia in patients with osteoarthritis and to investigate the association between catastrophizing pain and kinesiophobia. This follow-up study included 170 osteoarthritis patients undergoing surgery. They completed the Pain Catastrophizing Scale and the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia preoperatively (T0) and then postoperatively, at one (T1) and six months (T2). The mean score of catastrophizing pain preoperatively indicates moderate to high level of catastrophic pain. Multivariable linear regression analysis with total score of Pain Catastrophizing Scale preoperatively as the dependent variable found that increased age was associated with increased total score of Pain Catastrophizing Scale. The mean kinesiophobia score preoperatively indicates moderate to high level of kinesiophobia. Multivariable linear regression analysis with total score of the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia preoperatively as the dependent variable found that increased age and increased patients' inability to manage pain (helplessness) were associated with increased total score of the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia. Increased age and catastrophizing pain are predictors of kinesiophobia. Surgical interventions tend to reduce both catastrophizing pain and kinesiophobia.

Regenerative medicine is one of the most important branches of medicine today and in the future and brings together all the methods to stop or even reverse the aging process. Regenerative medicine may include cellular therapies such as stem cell therapy or extracellular vesicle therapies such as exosomes and growth factor therapy. It may also involve the use of Photobiomodulation (PBM) and functional medicine treatments targets on mitochondrial medicine, to control the aging process. In this article, we have discussed the role, importance, rationale, overlap, and synergy of the joint application of these methods. Combining these regenerative medicine approaches can achieve better results in various medical indications. For longevity, any autoimmune disease, chronic disease, especially in elderly patients, this recommended combination seems to be very critical, for a higher survival rate in cell therapy methods. It is like a plant growing process that requires good quality seeds (cell therapy), light (targeted laser therapy) and good soil (functional medicine).

During my PhD, I worked on the neural regulation of mechanical properties fast and slow muscles. This led me to believe that myosins in fast and slow muscles are structurally distinct and that motor nerves regulate the expression of myosin genes. I devised a method for separating intact fast and slow myosins by gel electrophoresis and confirmed their neural regulation. The electrophoresis method was subsequently improved and used to analyse skeletal and cardiac myosin isoforms in various vertebrate species, including marsupials. This led to the discovery of neonatal myosin heavy chain (MyHC), α and β cardiac MyHCs and of the regulation of cardiac MyHCs by thyroid hormone. Antibodies were raised against 2A, 2X, 2B, masticatory and extraocular MyHCs and used to study the expression and regulation of MyHCs in jaw, laryngeal and Extraocular Muscle (EOM) fibres. Antibodies against masticatory myosin enabled the sequencing of masticatory MyHC and masticatory light chain 2 genes. Cross-bridge kinetics of fibres with different myosin isoforms were analysed. Different MyHC isoforms found in jaw-closing muscles across various species reflected evolutionary adaptations to diverse dietary intake, while MyHC expression changes in cardiac and laryngeal muscles with body mass reflected adaptations to changes in their specific metabolic rate. Transplantation experiments on masticatory and EOMs and cross-innervation experiments between laryngeal and somitic muscles revealed that their capacity to express masticatory or extraocular MyHC were myogenically determined but neural impulse patterns also influence MyHC expression. EOMs are the most complex, expressing 11 MyHC isoforms. Some EOM fibres express faster MyHCs in the endplate zone but slower MyHCs at the end segments, an arrangement helping to linearize the saccade. I suggested that during development, primary and secondary extraocular myotubes specify the synaptic inputs of the innervating neurons to generate impulse patterns which regulate the expression of their MyHCs.

Transplant recipients are given an immunosuppressive regimen such as tacrolimus to prevent organ rejection. Suprotac® is a generic tacrolimus that is utilized in kidney transplantation regimen in Iran. This post-market study was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Suprotac® in comparison with Prograf®. In this two-armed, open-label, parallel, active-controlled, and cohort study, de novo kidney transplant recipients aging 18 to 65 years were prescribed Suprotac® or Prograf® as part of the immunosuppressant protocol. The primary outcome was comparing the mean estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at month 12. The secondary outcomes were the assessment of patient and graft survival, acute rejections during hospitalization, tacrolimus dose, trough concentration, and Trough Concentration/dose (C/D) ratio, and Adverse Events (AEs) during the study period. A total of 201 patients were enrolled in this study. At discharge, the eGFR was lower in the Suprotac® group compared to the Prograf® group (51.70 ml/min/1.73m2 and 57.48 ml/min/1.73m2, respectively; p=0.042). However, at month 12, there was no significant difference in mean eGFR between the two groups (58.94 ml/min/1.73m2 and 59.78 ml/min/1.73m2, respectively; p=0.772). Other outcomes, including patient and graft survival, acute rejection during hospitalization, tacrolimus dose, trough concentration, and C/D ratio, and overall incidence of AEs were similar between the two groups (p >0.05). The efficacy and safety profile of the generic tacrolimus were shown to be comparable to the reference tacrolimus at month 12.

Caring skills are essential in the training of nursing professionals, because they allow them to learn and gain experience in the quality and compassionate care of future patients. The objective is to compare the Caring Skills (CS) in nursing students according to age range, experience and family environment. A descriptive comparative study was carried out. The sample consisted of 176 nursing students from a Peruvian university. The age range was 18 to 27 years. A patient care skills scale was applied. This scale has three indicators (knowledge, courage and patience) and 37 questions. There were no differences in the three indicators (knowledge, courage and patience) when compared by age range (P>0.05). There were significant differences when compared by age range between students living with family and living alone (P<0.05). There was no difference between students who had experience vs. those who had no experience in patient care (P>0.05). It was determined that age and living with family members are determinant in the CS of nursing students of a Peruvian university. There were no differences between experienced and inexperienced students.

The term "local electrical stimulation" means the delivery, for therapeutic purposes, of electric current signals in the areola of the projections of acupuncture points. Among the varieties of this effect are electro- and electroacupuncture, as well as transcutaneous electrical neurostimulation. In the case of electropuncture, minimal skin areas are irritated, outside of the damage, by placing the sensors according to the projections of the points. In the electroacupuncture, current signals are sent to steel needles immersed in tissues, ensuring the activation of not only skin afferents, but also deeper afferents. Percutaneous stimulation consists of irritating large areas of the skin with the help of portable devices. The paper reveals the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effect of these methods, and puts forward an assumption about the prevailing biological significance of low-intensity stimuli. In addition, specific examples of use of local electrical stimulation in a number of pathological conditions are also presented.

Medium-sized scientific conferences held in hotels large enough to accommodate all participants increase opportunities for constructive discussion during breaks, and for evenings that bring together young and senior experts of basic sciences and clinical specialties. Time for group discussions offer opportunities for new collaborations and for jobs for young researchers. Since 1991 the Padova Muscle Days have offered collaborative opportunities that have matured into innovative multidisciplinary results to the point that it came naturally for us to underline it with a neologism now included in the title of the 2025 event: "Mobility Medicine". It is a discipline which developed naturally when we brought together fragmented areas of knowledge into one meeting. The Padua Days on Muscle and Mobility Medicine 2025 (2025Pdm3) will be hosted at the Hotel Petrarca, Euganean Thermae (Padua, Italy) from 25 to 29 March 2025. The list of unique sessions within the included program and the following Collection of Abstracts testify that it is possible to organize valid countermeasures to the inevitable tendencies towards hyper-specialization that the explosive increase in scientific progress brings. The European Journal of Translational Myology and Mobility Medicine (Ejtm3) will accept typescripts on results presented at the 2025Pdm3. Furthermore, an additional option for publication of full original Articles or Reviews is the Special "New Trends in Musculoskeletal Imaging" of the MDPI Journal Diagnostics, because diagnosis is essential to manage and follow-up neuro- metabolic- muscular- disorder and the decay of performances in aging. We hope that many will share our dreams and we make them come true at the 2025 Pdm3 Conference.

This study aimed to evaluate the role of NLR in predicting outcomes for patients with moderate to severe TBI. A retrospective analysis was conducted from April 2020 to April 2022, including patients aged 16 and older with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores of 8 or below admitted to Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Kashan. Data on NLR and other clinical markers were collected. Rotterdam scores were calculated using CT scan findings. Patients were followed up for six months post-trauma or until death, and associations between NLR and clinical outcomes were analyzed, with significance set at P < 0.05. Among 195 patients, 130 (66%) had unfavorable outcomes at six months. Admission NLR was significantly higher in patients with unfavorable outcomes compared to those with favorable outcomes (P < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis indicated that NLR had a sensitivity of 82% and specificity of 91% at a threshold of 5.2 for predicting unfavorable outcomes. Elevated admission NLR in patients with severe TBI was linked to unfavorable six-month functional outcomes and mortality. NLR may serve as a readily accessible clinical marker for prognostication in moderate to severe TBI.