Effect of Kinesio Taping on the Walking Ability of Patients with Foot Drop after Stroke.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of kinesio taping on the walking ability in patients with foot drop after stroke. METHODS: Sixty patients were randomly divided into the experimental group (with kinesio taping) and the control group (without kinesio taping). The 10-Meter Walking Test (10MWT), Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT), stride length, stance phase, swing phase, and foot rotation of the involved side were measured with the German ZEBRIS gait running platform analysis system and were used to evaluate and compare the immediate effects of kinesio taping. All the measurements were made in duplicate for each patient. RESULTS: The demographic variables of patients in both groups were comparable before the treatment (p>0.05). After kinesio taping treatment, significant improvement was found in the 10MWT and the TUGT for patients in the experimental group (p<0.05). There were significant differences in the 10MWT and TUGT between the experimental and control groups after treatment (p<0.05). In terms of gait, we found significant improvement in stride length (p<0.001), stance phase (p<0.001), swing phase (p<0.001), and foot rotation (p<0.001) of the involved side in experimental group after treatment compared with those before treatment. Further, the functional outcomes and gait ability were significantly improved in the experimental group after treatment (p<0.05), compared to the control group. CONCLUSION: Kinesio taping can immediately improve the walking function of patients with foot drop after stroke.

Fabricating polydopamine-coated MoSe2-wrapped hollow mesoporous silica nanoplatform for controlled drug release and chemo-photothermal therapy.

BACKGROUND: Integration of several types of therapeutic agents into one nanoplatform to enhance treatment efficacy is being more widely used for cancer therapy. METHODS: Herein, a biocompatible polydopamine (PDA)-coated MoSe2-wrapped doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs) nanoplatform (PM@HMSNs-DOX) was fabricated for dual-sensitive drug release and chemo-photothermal therapy for enhancing the therapeutic effects on breast cancer. The HMSNs were obtained by a "structural difference-based selective etching" strategy and served as the drug carrier, exhibiting a high DOX loading capacity of 427 mg/g HMSNs-NH2, and then wrapped with PDA-coated MoSe2 layer to form PM@HMSNs-DOX. Various techniques proved the successful fabrication of the nanocomposites. RESULTS: The formed PM@HMSNs-DOX nanocomposites exhibited good biocompatibility, good stability, and super-additive photothermal conversion efficiency due to the cooperation of MoSe2 and PDA. Simultaneously, the pH/near-infrared-responsive drug release profile was observed, which could enhance the synergistic therapeutic anticancer effect. The antitumor effects of PM@HMSNs-DOX were evaluated both in vitro and in vivo, demonstrating that the synergistic therapeutic efficacy was significantly superior to any monotherapy. Also, in vivo pharmacokinetics studies showed that PM@HMSNs-DOX had a much longer circulation time than free DOX. In addition, in vitro and in vivo toxicity studies certified that PM@HMSNs are suitable as biocompatible agents. CONCLUSION: Our nanoplatform loaded with DOX displays pH/near-infrared-induced chemotherapy and excellent photothermal therapy, which hold great potential for cancer treatment.