Unsupervised physical activity interventions for people with COPD: A systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES

Unsupervised PA interventions might have a role in the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) but their effectiveness is largely unknown. Thus, we aimed to identify and synthesise data on the effects of unsupervised PA interventions in people with COPD.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Databases were systematically searched in April 2020, with weekly updates until September 2021. Randomised controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies comparing unsupervised PA with usual care, were included. Primary outcomes were dyspnoea, exercise capacity and physical activity. The effect direction plot was performed to synthesise results. Meta-analysis with forest plots were conducted for the Chronic Respiratory Disease questionnaire - dyspnoea domain (CRQ-D), 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) and incremental shuttle walk distance (ISWD).

RESULTS

Eleven studies with 900 participants with COPD (68±10 years; 58.8% male, FEV1 63.7±15.8% predicted) were included. All interventions were conducted at home, most with daily sessions, for 8-12 weeks. Walking was the most common component. The effect direction plot showed that unsupervised PA interventions improved emotional function, fatigue, health-related quality of life, muscle strength and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Meta-analysis showed statistical, but not clinical, significant improvements in dyspnoea (CRQ-D, MD=0.12, 95% CI 0.09-0.15) and exercise capacity, measured with 6MWD (MD=13.70, 95% CI 3.58-23.83). Statistical and clinical significant improvements were observed in exercise capacity, measured with ISWD (MD=58.59, 95% CI 5.79-111.39). None to minor adverse events and a high adherence rate were found.

CONCLUSIONS

Unsupervised PA interventions benefits dyspnoea and exercise capacity of people with COPD, are safe and present a high adherence rate. Unsupervised PA interventions should be considered for people with COPD who cannot or do not want to engage in supervised PA interventions or as a maintenance strategy of PA levels.

Galectins in Protozoan Parasitic Diseases: Potential Applications in Diagnostics and Therapeutics

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) constitute a group of diseases that generally develop in tropical or subtropical climatic conditions and are related to poverty. Within the spectrum of NTDs, diseases caused by protozoa such as malaria, Chagas disease, and leishmaniasis exhibit elevated mortality rates, thereby constituting a substantial public health concern. Beyond their protozoan etiology, these NTDs share other similarities, such as the challenge of control and the lack of affordable, safe, and effective drugs. In view of the above, the need to explore novel diagnostic predictors and therapeutic targets for the treatment of these parasitic diseases is evident. In this context, galectins are attractive because they are a set of lectins bound to β-galactosides that play key roles in a variety of cellular processes, including host-parasite interaction such as adhesion and entry of parasites into the host cells, and participate in antiparasitic immunity in either a stimulatory or inhibitory manner, especially the galectins-1, -2, -3, and -9. These functions bestow upon galectins significant therapeutic prospects in the context of managing and diagnosing NTDs. Thus, the present review aims to elucidate the potential role of galectins in the diagnosis and treatment of malaria, leishmaniasis, and Chagas disease.

A model for preservation of thymocyte-depleted thymus

DiGeorge syndrome is a disorder caused by a microdeletion on the long arm of chromosome 22. Approximately 1% of patients diagnosed with DiGeorge syndrome may have an absence of a functional thymus, which characterizes the complete form of the syndrome. These patients require urgent treatment to reconstitute T cell immunity. Thymus transplantation is a promising investigational procedure for reconstitution of thymic function in infants with congenital athymia. Here, we demonstrate a possible optimization of the preparation of thymus slices for transplantation through prior depletion of thymocytes and leukocyte cell lineages followed by cryopreservation with cryoprotective media (5% dextran FP 40, 5% Me2SO, and 5% FBS) while preserving tissue architecture. Thymus fragments were stored in liquid nitrogen at -196°C for 30 days or one year. The tissue architecture of the fragments was preserved, including the distinction between medullary thymic epithelial cells (TECs), cortical TECs, and Hassall bodies. Moreover, depleted thymus fragments cryopreserved for one year were recolonized by intrathymic injections of 3×106 thymocytes per mL, demonstrating the capability of these fragments to support T cell development. Thus, this technique opens up the possibility of freezing and storing large volumes of thymus tissue for immediate transplantation into patients with DiGeorge syndrome or atypical (Omenn-like) phenotype.

Recombinant human TIM-3 ectodomain expressed in bacteria and recovered from inclusion bodies as a stable and active molecule

Introduction: Microbial systems, such as Escherichia coli, as host recombinant expression is the most versatile and the cheapest system for protein production, however, several obstacles still remain, such as recovery of soluble and functional proteins from inclusion bodies, elimination of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) contamination, incomplete synthesis, degradation by proteases, and the lack of post-translational modifications, which becomes even more complex when comes to membrane proteins, because they are difficult not only to produce but also to keep in solution in its active state. T-cell Immunoglobulin and Mucin domain 3 (TIM-3) is a type I transmembrane protein that is predominantly expressed on the surface of T lymphocytes, natural killer (NK) cells, dendritic cells, and macrophages, playing a role as a negative immune checkpoint receptor. TIM-3 comprises a single ectodomain for interaction with immune system soluble and cellular components, a transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic tail, responsible for the binding of signaling and scaffolding molecules. TIM-3 pathway holds potential as a therapeutic target for immunotherapy against tumors, autoimmunity, chronic virus infections, and various malignancies, however, many aspects of the biology of this receptor are still incompletely understood, especially regarding its ligands. Methods: Here we overcome, for the first time, the challenge of the production of active immune checkpoint protein recovered from bacterial cytoplasmic inclusion bodies, being able to obtain an active, and non-glycosylated TIM-3 ectodomain (TIM-3-ECD), which can be used as a tool to better understand the interactions and roles of this immune checkpoint. The TIM-3 refolding was obtained by the association of high pressure and alkaline pH. Results: The purified TIM-3-ECD showed the correct secondary structure and was recognized from anti-TIM-3 structural-dependent antibodies likewise commercial TIM-3-ECD was produced by a mammal cells system. Furthermore, immunofluorescence showed the ability of TIM-3-ECD to bind to the surface of lung cancer A549 cells and to provide an additional boost for the expression of the lymphocyte activation marker CD69 in anti-CD3/CD28 activated human PBMC. Discussion: Taken together these results validated a methodology able to obtain active checkpoint proteins from bacterial inclusion bodies, which will be helpful to further investigate the interactions of this and others not yet explored immune checkpoints.

Age, Blasts, Performance Status and Lenalidomide Therapy Influence the Outcome of Myelodysplastic Syndrome With Isolated Del(5q): A Study of 58 South American Patients

BACKGROUND

Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) with isolated deletion 5q is associated with a low risk to leukemic evolution and long overall survival (OS); it comprises 3%-4.5% of MDS cases in Latin America classified according to the World Health Organization 2008. This study aims to describe clinical, laboratory and the outcome of patients according to the newest World Health Organization 2016 proposal.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed patients from four Brazilian (BR) and four Argentinean (AR) centers diagnosed between 1999 and 2019.

RESULTS

The 58 patients (16-AR and 42-BR) presented a median age of 67 (IQR 61-75) years old, women predominance (70.7%) and transfusion dependency (62.5%) at diagnosis. Median hemoglobin level was 8.1g/dL, 27.5% and 44.4% presented thrombocytosis and neutropenia, respectively. Bone marrow (BM) was predominantly hypercellular (43.1%) with 66% showing dysplasia >1 lineage and 37.9% with >2% of blasts. Deletion 5q was mostly isolated (79.3%) and a variety of abnormalities were observed in remaining cases. Most patients were treated with erythropoietin-stimulating agents (ESA), 18 with lenalidomide and 15 with thalidomide. Median follow-up was 7.6 years, with a median OS of 3.5 years and an 8-years leukemic evolution rate of 18.4%. Multivariate analysis showed that age >75 years (HR 2.19), ECOG ≥2 (HR 5.76), BM blasts >2% (HR 2.92) and lenalidomide treatment (HR 0.25) independently influenced the OS.

CONCLUSION

Older age, worse performance status and higher percentage of blasts, that can be easily assessed, were associated to a worse prognosis. Also, our results corroborate the protective influence of lenalidomide in terms of OS in this South American series.