Background: Loss of muscle mass and strength in patients who have experienced severe burns is dramatic and associated with subsequent functional impairment. Past work has shown that exercise and oxandrolone, an anabolic steroid, individually improve muscle function and muscle mass in severely burned patients. This study aims to evaluate the effect of oxandrolone treatment combined with resistance exercise on muscle atrophy and investigate the protein synthesis and mitochondrial biogenesis pathways in a hindlimb suspension model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women globally, with an incidence of approximately two million cases in 2018. Organised age-based breast cancer screening programs were established worldwide to detect breast cancer earlier and to reduce mortality. Currently, there is substantial anticipation regarding risk-adjusted screening programs, considering various risk factors in addition to age.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSecondary lymphedema is a common sequel of oncologic surgery and presents a global health burden still lacking pharmacological treatment. The infiltration of the lymphedematous extremities with CD4T cells influences lymphedema onset and emerges as a promising therapy target. Here, we show that the modulation of CD4FOXP3CD25regulatory T (T) cells upon anti-CTLA4 treatment protects against lymphedema development in patients with melanoma and in a mouse lymphedema model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Diabetic patients often present with complex limb pathology, resulting in impaired sensation in the distal extremities making tactile injuries such as burns difficult to notice. We posit that poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, evidenced by increasing elevations in hemoglobin A1c, is associated with delayed wound healing and increased complications in burn patients.
Methods: The TriNetX Network, a database of 89 million patients across the U.
In this study, we aimed to integrate a genetic repository with an existing longitudinal national burn database. We set out two primary objectives, namely (1) to develop standard operating procedures for genetic sample collection and storage, DNA isolation, and data integration into an existing multicenter database; and (2) to demonstrate the feasibility of correlating genetic variation to functional outcomes in a pilot study, using the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene. Dubbed the worrier/warrior gene, COMT variants have been associated with varying phenotypes of post-traumatic stress, wellbeing, and resilience.
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