Evaluación biopsicosocial y del equilibrio en una intervención en la comunidad con ejercicio en mayores / Biopsychosocial and balance assessment in a community intervention with exercise in older people

Objetivos: Determinar el impacto en el equilibrio estático y dinámico, y en la esfera biopsicosocial, de una intervención en la comunidad basada en ejercicio físico, dirigida a personas mayores de 65 años. Metodología: Se realizó un estudio cuasiexperimental, pretest-postest, para el cual se seleccionó a 20 individuos mayores de 65 años de edad. Los participantes se evaluaron mediante el cuestionario COOP/WONCA, la prueba de estación unipodal y el test Timed Up and Go. La intervención se desarrolló en 16 sesiones con ejercicios de tonificación, movilidad, equilibrio y flexibilidad. Resultados: La intervención se asoció a una mejora del equilibrio estático y dinámico; así como del dolor expresado, del estado de salud referido y de las relaciones sociales. Conclusiones: La intervención en la comunidad con ejercicio físico podría mejorar el equilibrio y la esfera biopsicosocial en pacientes mayores de 65 años, lo que contribuiría a reducir la carga asistencial y a favorecer un envejecimiento activo (AU)

Objectives: To assess the impact, in terms of static and dynamic balance and biopsychosocial factors, of a community-based physical exercise program in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: A quasi-experimental pretest-postest study in 20 community-dwelling, age 65 and older adults. Participants were evaluated using COOP/ WONCA questionnaire, unipedal stance test and Timed Up and Go test. Intervention program consisted of 16 physical exercise sessions (including strength, mobility, balance and flexibility exercises). Results Intervention was associated with an improvement in both static and dynamic balance, expressed pain, health self-assessment, and social interaction. Conclusions: Physical exercise community-based interventions might improve balance and several biopsychosocial factors in community-dwelling older adults. This could contribute to decrease caseload in health-care centers and promote healthy aging (AU)

Effects of 3-butenyl isothiocyanate on phenotypically different prostate cancer cells.

Isothiocyanates (ITCs) have gained increasing attention since they have been attributed the merits for the potential beneficial effects of cruciferous vegetable dietary consumption on cancer. The aim of the present study was to determine the cytotoxic effects of 3-butenyl ITC (3-BI) on prostate cancer (PC) cells under in vitro conditions. Two androgen-insensitive human PC cell lines, PC-3 and DU145, were assayed. Cells were cultured in the presence of increasing concentrations of 3-BI (5, 10, 30 and 50 µM) in the absence or presence of the chemotherapeutic drug docetaxel (DOCE) (1 and 2 nM). The cytotoxic effects of these compounds were analyzed using the trypan blue exclusion assay at 24, 48 and 72 h. Apoptosis and migration assays were also performed. The results showed that 3-BI induced a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect on PC-3 cells at 24, 48 and 72 h. These effects were significantly higher than those found with DOCE at 72 h of culture. Moreover, 3-BI also potentiated the effects of DOCE in a dose-dependent manner. Additionally, 3-BI showed inhibition of the migration of PC-3 cells. Nevertheless, 3-BI was not effective in the DU145 PC cell line. These results show a promising role for the 3-BI compound as a co-adjuvant agent in DOCE-based therapy in certain types of PC.

Co-morbidities and sleep apnoea severity. A study in a cohort of Portuguese patients. / Comorbilidades y gravedad de la apnea del sueño. Estudio en una cohorte de pacientes portugueses.

INTRODUCTION: Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) is frequently associated to other morbid conditions that act as risk factors influencing OSAS morbidity and mortality. AIM: To analyse the presence of co-morbidities in OSAS patients, recruited from a sleep outpatient clinic in Northern Portugal, stratified as a function of OSAS severity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cohort of 319 sleep-disordered patients was assessed by clinical and sleep video-polygraphic recording. Patients (n = 209) with sleep respiratory distress had OSAS (n = 145) and severity defined according to Apnoea/Hypopnea Index (AHI); 64 had primary snoring or respiratory distress with AHI < 5; and 110 had other sleep disorders. A full individual background study was possible in 128 OSAS patients. The association to unique or multiple co-morbidities was assessed by clinical and analytical studies in general group or as a function of OSAS severity. RESULTS: The presence of co-morbidities was of 75% in all OSAS patients and of 79.5% in the severe group of OSAS. Forty seven of patients had only one co-morbidity. The most common was obesity (56.3%) followed by high blood pressure, diabetes and other cardiovascular disorders. Obesity was present in 84% among the most severe OSAS cases and always present in those with multiple co-morbidities. When compared with the group of patients without sleep respiratory distress the co-morbidity condition was more frequently related to OSAS (p = 0.0196). CONCLUSION: Comorbidities are commonly associated to OSAS independently of disease severity. Among the comorbidities present obesity was the most common in the most severe OSAS cases.

TITLE: Comorbilidades y gravedad de la apnea del sueño. Estudio en una cohorte de pacientes portugueses.Introduccion. El sindrome de apnea obstructiva del sueño (SAOS) se asocia frecuentemente a otras enfermedades que actuan como factores de riesgo que influyen en la morbilidad y mortalidad del SAOS. Objetivos. Analizar la presencia de comorbilidades en pacientes con SAOS, seleccionados en una clinica del sueño ambulatoria en el norte de Portugal y clasificados atendiendo a la gravedad del SAOS. Pacientes y metodos. Una cohorte de 319 pacientes con trastornos del sueño fueron evaluados mediante estudios clinicos y registro videopoligrafico durante el sueño. Del total de pacientes (n = 209) con distres respiratorio durante el sueño, 145 tenian SAOS con gravedad definida segun el indice de apnea/hipopnea (IAH); 64 presentaban ronquidos primarios o distres respiratorio con IAH < 5; y 110 tenian otros trastornos del sueño. Resultados. La presencia de comorbilidades fue del 75% en todos los pacientes con SAOS y del 79,5% en el grupo de pacientes con SAOS grave; 47 pacientes presentaban una unica comorbilidad, la mas comun de las cuales fue la obesidad (56,3%), seguida de hipertension, diabetes y otros trastornos cardiovasculares. La obesidad estuvo presente en el 84% de los casos mas graves de SAOS y en el 100% de casos con multiples comorbilidades. En comparacion con el grupo de pacientes con distres respiratorio durante el sueño, la comorbilidad aparece normalmente relacionada con el SAOS (p = 0,0196). Conclusion. Las comorbilidades se asocian con frecuencia al SAOS, independientemente de la gravedad de la enfermedad. Entre las comorbilidades presentes, la obesidad resulto ser la mas comun en los casos mas graves de SAOS.

Target driven preclinical screening for new antimitotic chemotherapy agents.

Currently approved antimitotic therapies used in chemotherapy are microtubule-targeting agents (MTAs). Despite they achieved some level of success, they have limited efficacy as single agents, with issues of slippages and resistance, and cause significant side effects. The advances in the identification of other mitosis-related targets led to the development of new mitotic regulators aimed to perturb mitosis without interfering with microtubule dynamics in non-dividing cells trying to reduce side effects in patients. Some of these compounds like those targeted to entry and mitotic kinases, mitotic kinesins/motor proteins, and multiprotein complexes have been evaluated in vitro and in animal models, and some of them have reached clinical trials. Despite promising preclinical results, in many cases, the efficacy demonstrated by these new antimitotics was not better than current microtubule inhibitors. In this paper we review present and future strategies on the search for new antimitotic compounds based on identification of new protein targets and development of multifunctional inhibitors of mitosis in cancer cells.