Electrical muscle stimulation with Veinoplus® device in the treatment of venous ulcers.

AIM: The aim of the study was to analyze the results of the electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) usage in patients with venous ulcers developed on top of a post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS). METHODS: Sixty patients (60 legs) with active venous ulcer (C6EsAsdpPr according to CEAP classification) were divided into two groups. In addition to the background therapy consisting of a standardized compression with ULCER X and intake of micronized purified flavonoid fraction (MPFF 1000 mg daily), all the patients in the main group underwent EMS with Veinoplus® V.I. for at least 3 times a day. Follow-up examinations were performed on days 30, 60 and 90. These included pain severity assessment with 100-mm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), disease severity measurement with VCSS (Venous Clinical Severity Score) and ankle circumference above malleolus, as well as recording number of healed venous ulcers. RESULTS: At day 90 pain severity was reduced in both main and control groups. However, according to VAS pain reduction rates were significantly higher in patients of the main group (from 8.7 ± 0.6 to 1.9 ± 0.3 in the main group and 8.4 ± 0.6 to 3.9 ± 0.5 in the control group). At the end of the study, ankle circumference decreased from 270.9 ± 4.6 mm to 257.1 ± 4.2 mm in the main and from 269.7 ± 5.3 mm to 263.4 ± 5.2 in the control group. VCSS before treatment was 7.3 ± 0.6 in the main group and 6.8 ± 0.5 in the control group. By day 90 VCSS significantly decreased to 2.3 ± 0.4 and 4.6 ± 0.5 in the main and control groups respectively. Healing rates were significantly higher in the main group. On day 90, the number of open venous ulcers in the main group was 3 times lower than in the control group (4 vs. 12). CONCLUSION: EMS demonstrated high efficacy and good tolerability and provided significant reduction in pain severity, VCSS score and ankle edema, as well as a 3-fold increase in the number of healed venous ulcers.

Vacuolar Na+/H+ antiporter from barley: identification and response to salt stress.

One of the protective mechanisms used by plants to survive under conditions of salt stress caused by high NaCl concentration is the removal of Na+ from the cytoplasm. This mechanism involves a number of Na+/H+-antiporter proteins that are localized in plant plasma and vacuolar membranes. Due to the driving force of the electrochemical H+ gradient created by membrane H+-pumps (H+-ATPases and vacuolar H+-pyrophosphatases), Na+/H+-antiporters extrude sodium ions from the cytoplasm in exchange for protons. In this study, we have identified the gene for the barley vacuolar Na+/H+-antiporter HvNHX2 using the RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends)-PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technique. It is shown that the identified gene is expressed in roots, stems, and leaves of barley seedlings and that it presumably encodes a 59.6 kD protein composed of 546 amino acid residues. Antibodies against the C-terminal fragment of HvNHX2 were generated. It is shown that the quantity of HvNHX2 in tonoplast vesicles isolated from roots of barley seedlings remains the same, whereas the rate of Na+/H+ exchange across these membranes increases in response to salt stress. The 14-3-3-binding motif Lys-Lys-Glu-Ser-His-Pro (371-376) was detected in the HvNHX2 amino acid sequence, which is suggestive of possible involvement of the 14-3-3 proteins in the regulation of HvNHX2 function.