Publications by authors named "Negrao C"

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is associated with decreased incidence of cardiovascular events, and its functionality also influences prognosis. Exercise is an important tool to improve prognosis in the post-infarction (MI) population, but the role of exercise on HDL functionality is poorly understood. Sixty-two patients with acute MI were randomized in a supervised exercise program for 12-14 weeks (exercise group-EG) or a control group (CG).

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Clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis (CADM) is an uncommon subtype of dermatomyositis (DM) characterized by the typical cutaneous manifestations of DM but without clinical or enzymatic signs of muscle inflammation. We report a case of a 61-year-old woman with a four-week history of dry cough, myalgias, chills, pleuritic chest pain, and worsening shortness of breath. She also had a five-year history of inflammatory polyarthralgia.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the relationship between muscle sympathetic nervous activity (MSNA) and cerebral blood velocity (CBv) during different physiological conditions in healthy subjects.
  • Using methods like transcranial Doppler ultrasound and microneurography, researchers measured changes in MSNA, mean arterial pressure (MAP), and CBv during isometric handgrip exercise and cold pressor test.
  • Findings indicate that MSNA significantly influences CBv regulation, revealing that both MAP and MSNA dynamically affect cerebral blood flow at rest and during stress tests.
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Unlabelled: Tumefactive multiple sclerosis (TMS) is a rare variant of multiple sclerosis that presents with a large demyelinating lesion in the central nervous system, accompanied by peripheral ring-like enhancement, perilesional oedema and mass effect. We report a case of a 59-year-old woman who was admitted to the hospital with a four-day history of somnolence, muscle weakness in her left extremities and ultimately, loss of consciousness. Over the following 48 hours, the patient's condition worsened with progressive consciousness impairment.

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Background And Aims: Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of mortality, with statins widely used to reduce its risk. Despite extensive research, the nuanced impact of statin therapy on cardiorespiratory fitness, particularly the reduction in peak oxygen consumption (VO), is still an open question. This study aims to contribute fresh insights to the ongoing discussion, highlighting the unresolved nature of this clinical matter.

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Aerobic exercise training (AET) has emerged as a strategy to reduce cancer mortality, however, the mechanisms explaining AET on tumor development remain unclear. Tumors escape immune detection by generating immunosuppressive microenvironments and impaired T cell function, which is associated with T cell mitochondrial loss. AET improves mitochondrial content and function, thus we tested whether AET would modulate mitochondrial metabolism in tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL).

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Purpose: Central and peripheral chemoreceptors are hypersensitized in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Whether this autonomic alteration occurs in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) remains little known. We test the hypothesis that the central and peripheral chemoreflex control of muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) is altered in HFpEF.

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Purpose: Sarcopenia, the loss of muscle mass and function, is a common comorbidity in patients with heart failure (HF). The skeletal muscle modulates the respiratory response during exercise. However, whether ventilatory behavior is affected by sarcopenia is still unknown.

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It is unclear whether muscle blood flow (MBF) is altered in long-term Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) survivors. We tested the hypothesis that ) MBF response during mental stress (MS) is impaired in long-term HL survivors and ) aerobic exercise training combined with local strength exercise (ET) restores MBF responses during MS in these survivors. Eighteen 5-year HL survivors and 10 aged-paired healthy subjects (HC) were studied.

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Exercise training reduces the incidence of several cancers, but the mechanisms underlying these effects are not fully understood. Exercise training can affect the spleen function, which controls the hematopoiesis and immune response. Analyzing different cancer models, we identified that 4T1, LLC, and CT26 tumor-bearing mice displayed enlarged spleen (splenomegaly), and exercise training reduced spleen mass toward control levels in two of these models (LLC and CT26).

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Background: Anabolic androgenic steroid (AAS) abuse has been associated with coronary artery disease (CAD). Pericoronary fat attenuation (pFA) is a marker of coronary inflammation, which is key in the atherosclerotic process.

Objective: To evaluate pFA and inflammatory profile in AAS users.

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Cardiotoxicity is the most worrying cardiovascular alteration in patients treated with chemotherapy. To improve the understanding regarding the cardiotoxicity, we studied whether ) patients with cardiac dysfunction related to anthracycline-based chemotherapy have augmented sympathetic nerve activity and decreased exercise capacity and ) these responses are similar to those observed in patients with heart failure caused by other etiologies. Sixteen patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction related to anthracycline-based chemotherapy with or without chest radiation (HFrEFCA), 10 patients with heart failure with reduced ejection not related to cancer therapy (HFrEF), and 16 age- and body mass index (BMI)-matched healthy control subjects were studied.

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Refractory angina (RA) is a chronic condition of coronary artery disease (CAD). Endothelial function (EF) measured by flow-mediated dilation (FMD) is an important prognostic marker in CAD. Exercise training is a stimulus that improves EF in CAD.

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Previous studies show that COVID-19 survivors have elevated muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA), endothelial dysfunction, and aortic stiffening. However, the neurovascular responses to mental stress and exercise are still unexplored. We hypothesized that COVID-19 survivors, compared with age- and body mass index (BMI)-matched control subjects, exhibit abnormal neurovascular responses to mental stress and physical exercise.

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Paraneoplastic pruritus has been reported mostly in association with haematological malignancies, and rarely with solid tumours. Aquagenic pruritus is itching without any skin lesion that develops a few minutes after contact with water of any temperature and it is associated with polycythaemia vera or other lymphoproliferative diseases. Here we report a case of a previously healthy 78-year-old Portuguese woman, who had been treated unsuccessfully for aquagenic pruritus for the previous eight months, and presented to the emergency department complaining of pain and swelling in her left leg.

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Background: Exercise training improves physical capacity in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), but the mechanisms involved in this response is not fully understood. The aim of this study was to determine if physical capacity increase in patients HFrEF is associated with muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) reduction and muscle blood flow (MBF) increase.

Methods: The study included 124 patients from a 17-year database, divided according to exercise training status: 1) exercise-trained (ET, n = 83) and 2) untrained (UNT, n = 41).

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This work presents a study involving dimers composed of He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Rn, and Og noble gases with oganesson, a super-heavy closed-shell element ( = 118). He-Og, Ne-Og, Ar-Og, Kr-Og, Xe-Og, Rn-Og, and Og-Og ground state electronic potential energy curves were calculated based on the 4-component (4c) Dirac-Coulomb Hamiltonian and were counterpoise corrected. For the 4c calculations, the electron correlation was taken into account using the same methodology (MP2-srLDA) and basis set quality (Dyall's acv3z and Dunning's aug-cc-PVTZ).

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Background: It is unclear whether exercise is safe in patients with more advanced forms of coronary artery disease, such as those with refractory angina (RA).

Objective: We aimed to determine the effect of an acute aerobic exercise session (AAES) on high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) levels in patients with RA.

Methods: This was a longitudinal, non-randomized, and non-controlled clinical study.

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Background: COVID-19 has become a dramatic health problem during this century. In addition to high mortality rate, COVID-19 survivors are at increased risk for cardiovascular diseases 1-year after infection. Explanations for these manifestations are still unclear but can involve a constellation of biological alterations.

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Exercise training (ET) can lower platelet reactivity in patients with cardiovascular risk factors. However, the effects of ET on platelet reactivity in higher-risk patients is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of ET on platelet reactivity in patients with recent myocardial infarction (MI).

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Ultraviolet (UV) light can inactivate SARS-CoV-2. However, the practicality of UV light is limited by the carcinogenic potential of mercury vapor-based UV lamps. Recent advances in the development of krypton chlorine (KrCl) excimer lamps hold promise, as these emit a shorter peak wavelength (222 nm), which is highly absorbed by the skin's stratum corneum and can filter out higher wavelengths.

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Impaired glucose metabolism reflects neuronal/synaptic dysfunction and cognitive function decline in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The study investigated the extent to which exercise training (ET) improves cerebral metabolic glucose rate (CMRgl) and cognitive function in patients with OSA. Patients with moderate to severe OSA were randomly assigned to ET (3 times/week, n = 23) or no intervention (control, n = 24).

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Treatment-emergent transformed neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is a highly aggressive type of prostate cancer that may arise from typical adenocarcinoma of the prostate, which is associated with rapidly progressive disease involving visceral sites and refractoriness to hormonal therapy. We present the case of a 74-year old male with a known history of stable prostate adenocarcinoma treated with transurethral prostate resection, local radiotherapy (RT), and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in 2020 who presented to the emergency room with complaints of shoulder and anterior chest pain, dyspnoea, and fatigue. Upon examination, a solid, adherent breast mass and infra-clavicular adenopathy were palpable.

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Objectives: Refractory angina (RA) is a chronic condition clinically characterized by low effort tolerance; therefore, physical stress testing is not usually requested for these patients. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is considered a gold standard examination for functional capacity evaluation, even in submaximal tests, and it has gained great prominence in detecting ischemia. The authors aimed to determine cardiorespiratory capacity by using the oxygen consumption efficiency slope (OUES) in patients with refractory angina.

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