The Effects of Exercise Prescription on Aerobic Performance and Quality of Life During the Course of Lymphoma Chemotherapy: Results of a Prospective Controlled Study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: This study is designed to investigate the physical, psychological and quality of life (QoL) effects of a 16 week supervised and structured intensive aerobic and strength training during the first line chemotherapy of lymphomas. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This pre-post study with two groups enrolled ≥18 years of age lymphoma patients scheduled for the first line chemotherapy. Eligible patients were assigned upon patients' preference either to control group (Group C) involving simple counselling, or intervention group (Group I) involving supervised intensive training. Baseline, interim and final evaluations were performed per protocol. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to investigate the effect of intervention. RESULTS: The mean age of 47 enrolled patients was 44 [standard deviation (SD) ± 17] and 27 (57.4%) of them were male. Patients in Group C (n = 19) and Group I (n = 28) had similar baseline characteristics. Tmax was significantly higher in Group I (P = .03) without a significant change during the study course (P = .98). Significant increases were observed in the power of some muscle groups, irrespective of the intervention type. The mean adherence rates were 83.0% (SD ± 22.0) and 54.0% (SD ± 23.0); the discontinuation rates were 10.7% (n = 3) and 42.9% (n = 12), at interim and final evaluations, respectively. CONCLUSION: Both supervised and structured schemes and simple counselling, prevent further muscle wasting and lead to modest improvements in aerobic performance and muscle strength during lymphoma chemotherapy. These results do not translate into a significant improvement in QoL measures. Non-adherence and discontinuation are important issues to be solved.

Effects of Helicobacter pylori infection and long-term proton pump inhibitor use on enterochromaffin-like cells.

BACKGROUND: Excessive release of gastrin leads to hypertrophy and hyperplasia of enterochromaffin-like cells (ECL) and prolonged stimulation of these cells causes functional impairment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and long-term proton pump inhibitors (PPI) use on ECL cells. METHODS: Fifteen patients who underwent endoscopy because of dyspeptic symptoms were enrolled in the present study. Biopsies were taken from corpus and antrum and existence of H. pylori was investigated with culture, cytology and CLOtest. The patients were divided into 3 groups. Group-A: H. pylori-negative, never treated previously with PPI; Group-B: H. pylori-positive, never treated previously with PPI; and group-C: H. pylori-negative and continuously treated with PPI for more than 6 months before the subject recruitment period. The features of ECL cell in oxyntic glands were examined with electron microscopy on biopsy specimens. RESULTS: ECL cells were completely normal in Group A. In group B, moderate hyperplasia and vacuolization was seen in ECL cells. In group C, ECL cell hyperplasia was observed and vacuoles with greater amounts of granules in enlarged vesicles were found more intensely in cytoplasm. CONCLUSION: The use of PPI for a long period of time and presence of H. pylori infection are risk factors for ECL hyperplasia.