Multi-dimensional investigation of the clinical effectiveness and prognostic factors of voice therapy for benign voice disorders.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Voice therapy is frequently recommended as the first-line treatment for benign voice disorders. This study investigated the clinical effectiveness of voice therapy and the prognostic factors of treatment outcomes. METHODS: We recruited 103 consecutive patients with voice disorders, namely vocal nodules, polyps, and muscle tension dysphonia (MTD), from September 2014 to July 2016. All the patients received voice therapy as the primary treatment. Treatment outcomes were evaluated using auditory perceptual evaluation, acoustic analysis, maximum phonation time, and 10-item voice handicap index (VHI-10). Clinical effectiveness of voice therapy was defined by either 1) a posttreatment VHI-10 score ≤ 10 points or 2) decline of VHI-10 ≥ 4 points. RESULTS: After voice therapy, VHI-10 and perceptual rating of voice quality improved significantly (p < 0.05) in the three disease categories. In patients with nodules, all the outcome parameters improved significantly (p < 0.05). Patients with good adherence to voice therapy (attending more than four sessions) had a significantly higher effectiveness than those with poor adherence (87% vs. 64%, p < 0.05). Patients with high occupational vocal demand also demonstrated a better effectiveness than those with routine vocal demand (90% vs. 70%, p < 0.05). Subsequent multivariate analyses revealed that adherence and vocal demand were independently and significantly correlated with clinical effectiveness (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Voice therapy is effective for patients with vocal nodules, polyps, and MTD. Adherence to voice therapy and occupational vocal demand are significant prognostic factors for treatment outcomes.

Pigment epithelium-derived factor peptide reverses mouse age-related meibomian gland atrophy.

Age-related meibomian gland (MG) atrophy, characterized by decreased meibocyte proliferation, is one of the causes of meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), which leads to dry eye disease. Currently, there is no available treatment effectively preventing or reversing the decreased cell proliferation and acinar tissue atrophy. In this study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of a pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) peptide in treating this condition. We found abundant expression of PEDF in the nucleus of acinar basal cells, but not in mature meibocytes, and that the expression levels were significantly decreased in the aged mice. We next treated the aged mice (15-month old) with atrophic MGs using a synthetic PEDF-derived peptide 29-mer (residues 93-121). We found that 29-mer effectively stimulated acinar basal cell proliferation and the following mature meibocyte proliferation in the atrophied MGs. In addition, the treatment increased ΔNp63 and Lrig1 expressions in acinar basal cells. Finally, the aged mice receiving the treatment showed MG growth and improved tear film break-up time. In conclusion, the 29-mer treatment is effective in promoting MG acinar basal cell proliferation and enlarging the acinar size of MG, as well as improving MG function in aged mice, suggesting a therapeutic potential of the PEDF-derived short peptide in ameliorating age-related MGD.

Voice Therapy for Benign Voice Disorders in the Elderly: A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Telepractice and Conventional Face-to-Face Therapy.

Purpose Previous studies have reported that voice therapy via telepractice is useful for patients with nodules and muscle tension dysphonia. Nevertheless, telepractice for elderly patients with voice disorders has not yet been investigated. We conducted this study to examine the hypothesis that voice therapy via telepractice is not inferior to conventional voice therapy. Method Eighty patients with dysphonia aged more than 55 years participated in this study from September 2016 to June 2018. After screening the inclusion and the exclusion criteria, 69 patients were randomized into telepractice (33 patients) and conventional (36 patients) groups. The outcome measurements included Voice Handicap Index-10, videolaryngostroboscopy, maximum phonation time, auditory-perceptual evaluation, and acoustic analysis. Paired t test, Wilcoxon signed-ranks test, and repeated measures analysis of variance were used to examine treatment outcomes. Results The diagnoses of voice disorders included atrophy (n = 33), unilateral vocal paralysis (n = 13), muscle tension dysphonia (n = 7), nodules (n = 6), and polyps (n = 10). No significant differences were observed in age, sex, and baseline measurements between the two groups. Twenty-five patients in the telepractice group and 24 patients in the control group completed at least four weekly sessions. Significant improvements were observed for all the outcome measures (p < .05) in both groups. Improvements in Voice Handicap Index-10 in the telepractice group (24.84 ± 5.49 to 16.80 ± 8.94) were comparable to those in the conventional group (22.17 ± 7.29 to 13.46 ± 9.95, p = .764). Other parameters also showed comparable improvements between the two groups without statistically significant differences. Conclusions This is the first randomized controlled trial comparing telepractice and conventional voice therapy in elderly patients with voice disorders. The results showed that the effectiveness of voice therapy via telepractice was not inferior to that of conventional voice therapy, indicating that telepractice can be used as an alternative to provide voice care for elderly patients with vocal disorders.

PEDF-derived peptide promotes tendon regeneration through its mitogenic effect on tendon stem/progenitor cells.

BACKGROUND: Tendon stem/progenitor cells (TSPC) exhibit a low proliferative response to heal tendon injury, leading to limited regeneration outcomes. Exogenous growth factors that activate TSPC proliferation have emerged as a promising approach for treatment. Here, we evaluated the pigment epithelial-derived factor (PEDF)-derived short peptide (PSP; 29-mer) for treating acute tendon injury and to determine the timing and anatomical features of CD146- and necleostemin-positive TSPC in the tendon healing process. METHODS: Tendon cells were isolated from rabbit Achilles tendons, stimulated by the 29-mer and analyzed for colony-forming capacity. The expression of the TSPC markers CD146, Oct4, and nestin, induced by the 29-mer, was examined by immunostaining and western blotting. Tendo-Achilles injury was induced in rats by full-thickness insertion of an 18-G needle and immediately treated topically with an alginate gel, loaded with 29-mer. The distribution of TSPC in the injured tendon and their proliferation were monitored using immunohistochemistry with antibodies to CD146 and nucleostemin and by BrdU labeling. RESULTS: TSPC markers were enriched among the primary tendon cells when stimulated by the 29-mer. The 29-mer also induced the clonogenicity of CD146+ TSPC, implying TSPC stemness was retained during TSPC expansion in culture. Correspondingly, the expanded TSPC differentiated readily into tenocyte-like cells after removal of the 29-mer from culture. 29-mer/alginate gel treatment caused extensive expansion of CD146+ TSPC in their niche on postoperative day 2, followed by infiltration of CD146+/BrdU- TSPC into the injured tendon on day 7. The nucleostemin+ TSPC were located predominantly in the healing region of the injured tendon in the later phase (day 7) and exhibited proliferative capacity. By 3 weeks, 29-mer-treated tendons showed more organized collagen fiber regeneration and higher tensile strength than control tendons. In culture, the mitogenic effect of the 29-mer was found to be mediated by the phosphorylation of ERK2 and STAT3 in nucleostemin+ TSPC. CONCLUSIONS: The anatomical analysis of TSPC populations in the wound healing process supports the hypothesis that substantial expansion of resident TSPC by exogenous growth factor is beneficial for tendon healing. The study suggests that synthetic 29-mer peptide may be an innovative therapy for acute tendon rupture.