Background: Stroke is a leading cause of disability. Nonetheless, the care pathway for stroke rehabilitation takes partially into account the needs of chronic patients. This is due in part to the lack of evidence about the mechanisms of recovery after stroke, together with the poor knowledge of related and influencing factors. Here we report on the study protocol “Rehabilitation and Biomarkers of Stroke Recovery,” which consists of 7 work-packages and mainly aim to investigate the effects of long-term neurorehabilitation on stroke patients and to define a related profile of (clinical-biological, imaging, neurophysiological, and genetic-molecular) biomarkers of long-term recovery after stroke. The work-package 1 will represent the main part of this protocol and aims to compare the long-term effects of intensive self-rehabilitation vs. usual (rehabilitation) care for stroke.Methods: We planned to include a total of 134 adult subacute stroke patients (no more than 3 months since onset) suffering from multidomain disability as a consequence of first-ever unilateral ischemic stroke. Eligible participants will be randomly assigned to one of the following groups: intensive self-rehabilitation (based on the principles of “Guided Self-Rehabilitation Contract”) vs. usual care (routine practice). Treatment will last 1 year, and patients will be evaluated every 3 months according to their clinical presentation. The following outcomes will be considered in the main work-package: Fugl-Meyer assessment, Cognitive Oxford Screen Barthel Index, structural and functional neuroimaging, cortical excitability, and motor and somatosensory evoked potentials.Discussion: This trial will deal with the effects of an intensive self-management rehabilitation protocol and a related set of biomarkers. It will also investigate the role of training intensity on long-term recovery after stroke. In addition, it will define a set of biomarkers related to post-stroke recovery and neurorehabilitation outcome in order to detect patients with greater potential and define long-term individualized rehabilitation programs.Clinical Trial Registration:www.ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT04323501.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the functional performance after total knee replacement (TKR). Two groups of patients, one with mobile (n=9) and one with fixed bearing (n=8) total knee prosthesis, were compared by means of motion analysis. A group of healthy subjects (n=8), matched by age, were used as controls. Kinematics, kinetics and electromyography data were collected during physiological daily activities such as walking and squatting. During walking, both groups of patients showed a speed of progression, a maximum knee extension moment (stance phase) and a maximum knee flexion (swing phase) significantly lower than the control group. Moreover, during the swing phase a co-contraction of the antagonistic muscles of the inferior limb was present. During squatting, both groups of patients showed a peak of knee flexion significantly lower than the control group. Motion pattern after TKR is unphysiological but the abnormalities seem to be independent from the differences in the implant designs.
Background Idiopathic calcium nephrolithiasis (ICN) is a common condition with different a complex phenotype influenced by both environmental and genetic factors. In our study we investigated the association of allelic variants with the history of nephrolithiasis. Methods We genotyped and selected 10 candidate genes potentially related to risk of ICN from 3046 subjects participating in the INCIPE survey (Initiative on Nephropathy, of relevance to public health, which is Chronic, possibly in its Initial stages, and carries a Potential risk of major clinical End-points), a cross-sectional study enrolling subjects from the general population in the Veneto region in Italy. Results Overall, 66 224 variants mapping on the 10 candidate genes were studied. 69 and 18 variants in INCIPE-1 and INCIPE-2, respectively, were significantly associated with stone history (SH). Only 2 variants, rs36106327 (chr20:54 171 755, intron variant) and rs35792925 (chr20:54 173 157, intron variant) of the CYP24A1 gene were observed to be consistently associated with SH. Both variants have not been previously reported in association with renal stones or other conditions. Carriers of CYP24A1 variants showed a significant increase in ratio 1,25 (OH)2 D/25 OH D compared with controls (P = 0.043). Although not associated with SH in this study, the rs4811494 CYP24A1 variant that was reported to be causative of nephrolithiasis was very prevalent in heterozygosity (20%). Conclusion Our data suggest a possible role for CYP24A1 variants in the risk of nephrolithiasis. Genetic validation studies in larger sample sets will be necessary to confirm our findings.
HIV-1 infection in the absence of treatment results in progression toward AIDS. Host genetic factors play a role in HIV-1 pathogenesis, but complete knowledge is not yet available. Since less-expressed HLA-C variants are associated with poor HIV-1 control and unstable HLA-C variants are associated with higher HIV-1 infectivity, we investigated whether there was a correlation between the different stages of HIV-1 progression and the presence of specific HLA-C allotypes. HLA-C genotyping was performed using allele-specific PCR by analyzing a treatment-naïve cohort of 96 HIV-1-infected patients from multicentric cohorts in the USA, Canada, and Brazil. HIV-1-positive subjects were classified according to their different disease progression status as progressors (Ps, n = 48), long-term non-progressors (LTNPs, n = 37), and elite controllers (ECs, n = 11). HLA-C variants were classified as stable or unstable according to their binding stability to β2-microglobulin/peptide complex. Our results showed a significant correlation between rapid progression to AIDS and the presence of two or one unstable HLA-C variants (p-value: 0.0078, p-value: 0.0143, respectively). These findings strongly suggest a link between unstable HLA-C variants both at genotype and at allele levels and rapid progression to AIDS. This work provides further insights into the impact of host genetic factors on AIDS progression.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.