Persistent symptoms and clinical findings in adults with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19/post-COVID-19 syndrome in the second year after acute infection: A population-based, nested case-control study.

Background: Self-reported health problems following severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are common and often include relatively non-specific complaints such as fatigue, exertional dyspnoea, concentration or memory disturbance and sleep problems. The long-term prognosis of such post-acute sequelae of COVID-19/post-COVID-19 syndrome (PCS) is unknown, and data finding and correlating organ dysfunction and pathology with self-reported symptoms in patients with non-recovery from PCS is scarce. We wanted to describe clinical characteristics and diagnostic findings among patients with PCS persisting for >1 year and assessed risk factors for PCS persistence versus improvement.

Physical activity and exercise motivation of multiple myeloma patients: a prospective cross-sectional study.

Background: Multiple myeloma (MM) is the second most common hematological malignancy with its prevalence increasing. Patients with symptomatic MM can show numerous comorbidities, affecting their quality of life (QoL). Physical activity (PA) may improve QoL but is not a standardized intervention of comprehensive cancer centers (CCCs).

The effect of physical exercise interventions on insomnia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

6-10 % of Europeans suffer from chronic insomnia. They have a higher risk to develop mental and cardiovascular diseases. Treatment of insomnia primarily recommended by the European guideline is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I).

Trends in the numbers of SARS-CoV-2 infections among students: a prospective cohort study comparing students in sports boarding schools with students in day schools during early COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: During the first months of the COVID pandemic it emerged that facilities where people gather or live together in cohorts, such as nursing homes or schools, were particularly at high risk for becoming hotspots of virus transmission. German political and health institutions responded with far-reaching interventions and preventive strategies to protect the population from infection with SARS-CoV-2. In this context, it remains unclear whether boarding schools for sports particularly pose a risk of infection to their residents.

Close Relationship between Systemic Arterial and Portal Venous Pressure in an Animal Model with Healthy Liver.

It is unclear to what extent systemic arterial blood pressure influences portal pressure. This relationship is clinically important as drugs, which are conventionally used for therapy of portal hypertension, may also influence systemic arterial blood pressure. This study investigated the potential correlation between mean arterial (MAP) and portal venous pressure (PVP) in rats with healthy livers.

A Comparison of the Impact of COVID-19-Related Restrictions on Physical Activity Among Public Employees.

Objectives: This article compares the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions on the level of physical activity, performed by public servants, in April and November 2020.

Methods: The survey examined the amount (in minutes per week) and the energy expenditure (in metabolic equivalent of task in minutes per week [METmin/week]) of physical activity for both before and during contact restrictions in April and November 2020, respectively.

Results: Especially for sports activity difference was determined by the medians before (April/November: median [Mdn] = 180.

[Influence of the contact restrictions against SARS-CoV-2 on physical activity among public sector employees.].

Objective: Preliminary results from activity surveys conducted in spring 2020 suggest that athletic activity may have decreased within the contact restrictions against the spread of coronavirus. The coronavirus pandemic poses many challenges to the workforce in the healthcare system. Therefore, this study investigated whether the measures to limit the pandemic have an influence on the activity behavior of employees in the public sector.

Case Report: Assessing COVID-19 Transmission in Professional Volleyball in Germany, September to December 2020: An Epidemiological Study.

Introduction: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic poses extraordinary challenges in all fields of daily life. The WHO recommended social distancing guidelines and person-to-person contact was strongly discouraged to contain transmission. Team-based sports were questioned and widely debated.

COVID-19 in German Competitive Sports: Protocol for a Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study (CoSmo-S).

It is unclear whether and to what extent COVID-19 infection poses health risks and a chronic impairment of performance in athletes. Identification of individual health risk is an important decision-making basis for managing the pandemic risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 in sports and return to play (RTP). This study aims 1) to analyze the longitudinal rate of seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in German athletes, 2) to assess health-related consequences in athletes infected with SARS-CoV-2, and 3) to reveal effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in general and of a cleared SARS-CoV-2 infection on exercise performance.

Cyclic GMP in Liver Cirrhosis-Role in Pathophysiology of Portal Hypertension and Therapeutic Implications.

The NO-cGMP signal transduction pathway plays a crucial role in tone regulation in hepatic sinusoids and peripheral blood vessels. In a cirrhotic liver, the key enzymes endothelial NO synthase (eNOS), soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC), and phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) are overexpressed, leading to decreased cyclic guanosine-monophosphate (cGMP). This results in constriction of hepatic sinusoids, contributing about 30% of portal pressure.

Phosphodiesterases in the Liver as Potential Therapeutic Targets of Cirrhotic Portal Hypertension.

Liver cirrhosis is a frequent condition with high impact on patients' life expectancy and health care systems. Cirrhotic portal hypertension (PH) gradually develops with deteriorating liver function and can lead to life-threatening complications. Other than an increase in intrahepatic flow resistance due to morphological remodeling of the organ, a functional dysregulation of the sinusoids, the smallest functional units of liver vasculature, plays a pivotal role.

In Vivo Fat Quantification: Monitoring Effects of a 6-Week Non-Energy-Restricted Ketogenic Diet in Healthy Adults Using MRI, ADP and BIA.

The ketogenic diet (KD) is a very low-carbohydrate, high-fat, and adequate-protein diet that induces many metabolic adaptations when calorie intake is not limited. Its therapeutic use in a range of diseases including cancer is currently being investigated. Our objective was to firstly assess the impact of a 6-week non-energy-restricted KD on the abdominal fat distribution and the hepatic fat composition in healthy adults.

Esophageal lichen planus: towards diagnosis of an underdiagnosed disease.

Although lichen planus (LP) is a common skin disorder, the prevalence of esophageal involvement (ELP) and its clinical manifestations are poorly defined. We aimed to establish diagnostic criteria and characterize disease outcomes of ELP. Clinical, endoscopic, histological, and immunofluorescence data from consecutive patients with known LP between 2013 and 2018 were analyzed.

Hemoglobin A1c and retinal arteriolar narrowing in children with type 1 diabetes: the diagnostics of early atherosclerosis risk in kids study.

Background/objective: Microvascular alterations play a key role in the development of diabetes complications. Retinal vessel analysis is a unique method to examine microvascular changes in brain-derived vessels.

Methods: Sixty-seven pediatric and adolescent type 1 diabetes patients and 58 healthy control persons (mean age 12.

Comprehensive lifestyle intervention soy protein-based meal regimen in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Background: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) has become one of the leading causes of liver disease in the western world. In obese patients weight reduction is recommended. Up to now there are no specific guidelines for weight loss in order to reduce hepatic fat content.

Analysis of the nitric oxide-cyclic guanosine monophosphate pathway in experimental liver cirrhosis suggests phosphodiesterase-5 as potential target to treat portal hypertension.

Aim: To investigate the potential effect of inhibitors of phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) for therapy of portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis.

Methods: In the rat model of thioacetamide-induced liver fibrosis/cirrhosis the nitric oxide-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (NO-cGMP) pathway was investigated. Expression and localization of PDE-5, the enzyme that converts vasodilating cGMP into inactive 5'-GMP, was in the focus of the study.

Beneficial long term effect of a phosphodiesterase-5-inhibitor in cirrhotic portal hypertension: A case report with 8 years follow-up.

Non-selective beta-blockers are the mainstay of medical therapy for portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis. Inhibitors of phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5-inhibitors) reduce portal pressure in the acute setting by > 10% which may suggest a long-term beneficial effect. Currently, there is no available data on long-term treatment of portal hypertension with PDE-5-inhibitors.

Phase-contrast MR flow imaging: A tool to determine hepatic hemodynamics in rats with a healthy, fibrotic, or cirrhotic liver.

Purpose: To test a magnetic resonance (MR) scanning protocol as a noninvasive tool to determine hepatic hemodynamics and to assess the degree of liver fibrosis in an animal model of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-four male Wistar rats were studied. Thirty-nine received thioacetamide (TAA) in their drinking water for either 12 or 16 weeks.

Impact of a 6-week non-energy-restricted ketogenic diet on physical fitness, body composition and biochemical parameters in healthy adults.

Background: The ketogenic diet (KD) is a very low-carbohydrate, high-fat and adequate-protein diet that without limiting calories induces different metabolic adaptations, eg, increased levels of circulating ketone bodies and a shift to lipid metabolism. Our objective was to assess the impact of a 6-week non-energy-restricted KD in healthy adults beyond cohorts of athletes on physical performance, body composition, and blood parameters.

Methods: Our single arm, before-and-after comparison study consisted of a 6-week KD with a previous preparation period including detailed instructions during classes and individual counselling by a dietitian.

Esophageal involvement is frequent in lichen planus: study in 32 patients with suggestion of clinicopathologic diagnostic criteria and therapeutic implications.

Objective: Lichen planus (LP) is a classic skin disease that can involve the skin, hair, and nails, as well as the oral and genital mucosa. Histopathology is characterized by a T-lymphocytic, lichenoid, and interface dermatitis. Multiple case reports and small case series have shown that LP can involve the esophagus.

Therapeutic Depletion of Iron Stores Is Not Associated with a Reduced Hemoglobin Mass in a Hemochromatosis Patient.

Introduction: Hereditary hemochromatosis features a dysregulated iron absorption leading to iron overload and organ damage. The regulation of total hemoglobin mass during depletion of iron deposits by therapeutic phlebotomy has not been studied.

Case Presentation: The initial ferritin level of the 52-year-old male subject was 1,276 μg/l.

Internal Fat and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors Following a Meal-Replacement Regimen vs. Comprehensive Lifestyle Changes in Obese Subjects.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of a meal-replacement regimen vs. comprehensive lifestyle changes in overweight or obese subjects on intra-abdominal fat stores (Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) measurements) and cardiometabolic risk factors. Forty-two obese men (n = 18) and women (n = 24) (age 49 ± 8 years; weight 96.

Implementing a home-based exercise program for patients with advanced, incurable diseases after discharge and their caregivers: lessons we have learned.

Background: Palliative care (PC) patients experience loss of physical function which usually impedes mobility, autonomy and quality of life. We aimed at examining the feasibility of a home-based exercise program for patients with advanced, incurable diseases after discharge.

Results: This was a single-arm pilot study (WHO-ICTRP: DRKS00005048).

Value of MRI and MRS fat measurements to complement conventional screening methods for childhood obesity.

Purpose: To evaluate a protocol combining abdominal fat-water magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and liver single voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) for studies of childhood obesity.

Materials And Methods: Six obese male children and five age-matched normal-weight controls underwent abdominal fat-water Dixon MRI based on a gradient echo sequence with multiple echo times and single voxel liver MRS at a field strength of 3T. The MRI/MRS data were compared with data previously acquired from an obese adult cohort and with anthropometric and blood parameters that are typically acquired for screening in childhood obesity.