Targeting cyclin-dependent kinases in sarcoma treatment: Current perspectives and future directions

Effective treatment of advanced/metastatic bone and soft tissue sarcomas still represents an unmet medical need. Recent advances in targeted therapies have highlighted the potential of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDK) inhibitors in several cancer types, including sarcomas. CDKs are master regulators of the cell cycle; their dysregulation is listed among the “hallmarks of cancer” and sarcomas are no exception to the rule. In this review, we report both the molecular basis, and the potential therapeutic implications for the use of CDK inhibitors in sarcoma treatment. What is more, we describe and discuss the possibility and biological rationale for combination therapies with conventional treatments, target therapy and immunotherapy, highlighting potential avenues for future research to integrate CDK inhibition in sarcoma treatment

Medidas clínicas estáticas do retropé e joelho não estão associadas à síndrome da dor patelofemoral

O objetivo deste estudo foi investigar se existe associação entre a síndrome da dor patelofemoral e as medidas clínicas estáticas: os ângulos do retropé e Q. Foi realizado um estudo observacional, transversal, caso-controle, no qual foram avaliados 77 adultos (ambos os sexos), 30 participantes com síndrome da dor patelofemoral e 47 controles. Foram medidos os ângulos do retropé e Q, por meio da fotogrametria. Testes t para amostras independentes foram usados para comparações dos resultados das variáveis contínuas entre os grupos. Os resultados das variáveis contínuas foram transformados em classificações clínicas categóricas, para verificar a associação estatística com a disfunção, e o teste do χ2 para respostas múltiplas também foi utilizado. Não houve diferença entre os grupos para o ângulo do retropé [média da diferença: 0,2º (IC95% -1,4-1,8)] e ângulo Q [média da diferença: -0,3º (IC95%-3,0-2,4). Não houve associação entre o ângulo do retropé [Odds Ratio: 1,29 (IC95% 0,51-3,25)], assim como entre o ângulo Q [Odds Ratio: 0.77 (IC95% 0,31-1,93)] e a ocorrência da síndrome da dor patelofemoral. Apesar de serem teoricamente justificadas e amplamente utilizadas na prática clínica fisioterapêutica, não pode-se afirmar que as medidas dos ângulos do retropé e Q, quando mensuradas em posição ortostática, estão associadas com a ocorrência da síndrome da dor patelofemoral. Essas medidas podem ter aplicabilidade limitada na triagem desta disfunção.The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between the patellofemoral pain syndrome and the clinical static measurements: the rearfoot and the Q angles. The design was a cross-sectional, observational, case-control study. We evaluated 77 adults (both genders), 30 participants with patellofemoral pain syndrome, and 47 controls. We measured the rearfoot and Q angles by photogrammetry. Independent t-tests were used to compare outcome continuous measures between groups. Outcome continuous data were also transformed into categorical clinical classifications, in order to verify their statistical association with the dysfunction, and χ2 tests for multiple responses were used. There were no differences between groups for rearfoot angle [mean differences: 0.2º (95%CI -1.4-1.8)] and Q angle [mean differences: -0.3º (95%CI -3.0-2.4). No associations were found between increased rearfoot valgus [Odds Ratio: 1.29 (95%CI 0.51-3.25)], as well as increased Q angle [Odds Ratio: 0.77 (95%CI 0.31-1.93)] and the patellofemoral pain syndrome occurrence. Although widely used in clinical practice and theoretically thought, it cannot be affirmed that increased rearfoot valgus and increased Q angle, when statically measured in relaxed stance, are associated with patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS). These measures may have limited applicability in screening of the PFPS development

Influence of a single physical therapy instructional intervention on the global flexibility and hip angular range of motion during trunk flexion

Many subjects may be performing anterior trunk flexion with limited physiologic hip flexion, due to a poor bodily perception. This study assessed, among 21 subjects (10 men), which body part is perceived as being responsible for performing anterior trunk flexion; and verified whether, after one single physical therapy intervention (with visual, verbal and tactile stimuli), a raise in global flexibility would take place due to hip flexion increase. Both the distance fingertip-to-floor and the hip angular variation were measured before and after intervention; measures were analysed by means of photograph tracings. When questioned before intervention, 71% of the subjects pointed to the iliac crest region as being the major responsible for performing trunk flexion, showing that most were unaware of hip preponderance in this movement. Following intervention, a significant decrease was noticed in the fingertip-to-floor distance (21.8 cm before and 18.5 cm after), as well as significant increase in hip flexion (p=0.0036). As expected, global flexibility increased after intervention due to increase in hip flexion.Muitos indivíduos podem estar realizando a flexão do tronco com uso limitado da flexão fisiológica do quadril, por uma percepção corporal diminuída. Este estudo avaliou, em 21 sujeitos (10 homens), qual região do corpo é percebida como responsável pela flexão do tronco e verificou a ocorrência de um possível aumento da flexibilidade global no teste 3o dedo-solo por uma melhor utilização da articulação do quadril, após uma única intervenção instrutiva fisioterapêutica, composta de estímulos táteis, visuais e verbais. Mediram-se a distância do terceiro dedo ao solo e a variação angular do quadril na flexão do tronco antes e depois da intervenção, sendo a análise feita por mensurações em fotografias digitais por meio de programa gráfico. Questionados antes da intervenção, 71% dos sujeitos apontaram a região da crista ilíaca como responsável pela flexão do tronco, mostrando que a maioria desconhecia a predominância da articulação do quadril nesse movimento. Após a intervenção, houve decréscimo significativo na distância do 3o dedo ao solo (21,8 cm antes e 18,5 cm depois) e alterações significativas dos ângulos de flexão da articulação do quadril (p=0,0036). Após a intervenção, a flexibilidade global aumentou devido ao aumento da flexão do quadril, confirmando a hipótese inicial

Perspectives on the Trypanosoma cruzi-host cell receptor interaction

Chagas disease is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The critical initial event is the interaction of the trypomastigote form of the parasite with host receptors. This review highlights recent observations concerning these interactions. Some of the key receptors considered are those for thromboxane, bradykinin, and for the nerve growth factor TrKA. Other important receptors such as galectin-3, thrombospondin, and laminin are also discussed. Investigation into the molecular biology and cell biology of host receptors for T. cruzi may provide novel therapeutic targets

Detailed stratified GWAS analysis for severe COVID-19 in four European populations

Given the highly variable clinical phenotype of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a deeper analysis of the host genetic contribution to severe COVID-19 is important to improve our understanding of underlying disease mechanisms. Here, we describe an extended genome-wide association meta-analysis of a well-characterized cohort of 3255 COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure and 12 488 population controls from Italy, Spain, Norway and Germany/Austria, including stratified analyses based on age, sex and disease severity, as well as targeted analyses of chromosome Y haplotypes, the human leukocyte antigen region and the SARS-CoV-2 peptidome. By inversion imputation, we traced a reported association at 17q21.31 to a ~0.9-Mb inversion polymorphism that creates two highly differentiated haplotypes and characterized the potential effects of the inversion in detail. Our data, together with the 5th release of summary statistics from the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative including non-Caucasian individuals, also identified a new locus at 19q13.33, including NAPSA, a gene which is expressed primarily in alveolar cells responsible for gas exchange in the lung.S.E.H. and C.A.S. partially supported genotyping through a philanthropic donation. A.F. and D.E. were supported by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and COVID-19 grant Research (BMBF; ID:01KI20197); A.F., D.E. and F.D. were supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Cluster of Excellence ‘Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation’ (EXC2167). D.E. was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the framework of the Computational Life Sciences funding concept (CompLS grant 031L0165). D.E., K.B. and S.B. acknowledge the Novo Nordisk Foundation (NNF14CC0001 and NNF17OC0027594). T.L.L., A.T. and O.Ö. were funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), project numbers 279645989; 433116033; 437857095. M.W. and H.E. are supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) through the Research Training Group 1743, ‘Genes, Environment and Inflammation’. L.V. received funding from: Ricerca Finalizzata Ministero della Salute (RF-2016-02364358), Italian Ministry of Health ‘CV PREVITAL’—strategie di prevenzione primaria cardiovascolare primaria nella popolazione italiana; The European Union (EU) Programme Horizon 2020 (under grant agreement No. 777377) for the project LITMUS- and for the project ‘REVEAL’; Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda ‘Ricerca corrente’, Fondazione Sviluppo Ca’ Granda ‘Liver-BIBLE’ (PR-0391), Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda ‘5permille’ ‘COVID-19 Biobank’ (RC100017A). A.B. was supported by a grant from Fondazione Cariplo to Fondazione Tettamanti: ‘Bio-banking of Covid-19 patient samples to support national and international research (Covid-Bank). This research was partly funded by an MIUR grant to the Department of Medical Sciences, under the program ‘Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018–2022’. This study makes use of data generated by the GCAT-Genomes for Life. Cohort study of the Genomes of Catalonia, Fundació IGTP (The Institute for Health Science Research Germans Trias i Pujol) IGTP is part of the CERCA Program/Generalitat de Catalunya. GCAT is supported by Acción de Dinamización del ISCIII-MINECO and the Ministry of Health of the Generalitat of Catalunya (ADE 10/00026); the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) (2017-SGR 529). M.M. received research funding from grant PI19/00335 Acción Estratégica en Salud, integrated in the Spanish National RDI Plan and financed by ISCIII-Subdirección General de Evaluación and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)-Una manera de hacer Europa’). B.C. is supported by national grants PI18/01512. X.F. is supported by the VEIS project (001-P-001647) (co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), ‘A way to build Europe’). Additional data included in this study were obtained in part by the COVICAT Study Group (Cohort Covid de Catalunya) supported by IsGlobal and IGTP, European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, COVID-19 Rapid Response activity 73A and SR20-01024 La Caixa Foundation. A.J. and S.M. were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grant numbers: PSE-010000-2006-6 and IPT-010000-2010-36). A.J. was also supported by national grant PI17/00019 from the Acción Estratégica en Salud (ISCIII) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER). The Basque Biobank, a hospital-related platform that also involves all Osakidetza health centres, the Basque government’s Department of Health and Onkologikoa, is operated by the Basque Foundation for Health Innovation and Research-BIOEF. M.C. received Grants BFU2016-77244-R and PID2019-107836RB-I00 funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI, Spain) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER, EU). M.R.G., J.A.H., R.G.D. and D.M.M. are supported by the ‘Spanish Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Competition, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III’ (PI19/01404, PI16/01842, PI19/00589, PI17/00535 and GLD19/00100) and by the Andalussian government (Proyectos Estratégicos-Fondos Feder PE-0451-2018, COVID-Premed, COVID GWAs). The position held by Itziar de Rojas Salarich is funded by grant FI20/00215, PFIS Contratos Predoctorales de Formación en Investigación en Salud. Enrique Calderón’s team is supported by CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), ‘Instituto de Salud Carlos III’. J.C.H. reports grants from Research Council of Norway grant no 312780 during the conduct of the study. E.S. reports grants from Research Council of Norway grant no. 312769. The BioMaterialBank Nord is supported by the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Airway Research Center North (ARCN). The BioMaterialBank Nord is member of popgen 2.0 network (P2N). P.K. Bergisch Gladbach, Germany and the Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. He is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). O.A.C. is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education and is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy—CECAD, EXC 2030–390661388. The COMRI cohort is funded by Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany. This work was supported by grants of the Rolf M. Schwiete Stiftung, the Saarland University, BMBF and The States of Saarland and Lower Saxony. K.U.L. is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG, LU-1944/3-1). Genotyping for the BoSCO study is funded by the Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Bonn. F.H. was supported by the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and Arts. Part of the genotyping was supported by a grant to A.R. from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, grant: 01ED1619A, European Alzheimer DNA BioBank, EADB) within the context of the EU Joint Programme—Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND). Additional funding was derived from the German Research Foundation (DFG) grant: RA 1971/6-1 to A.R. P.R. is supported by the DFG (CCGA Sequencing Centre and DFG ExC2167 PMI and by SH state funds for COVID19 research). F.T. is supported by the Clinician Scientist Program of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Cluster of Excellence ‘Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation’ (EXC2167). C.L. and J.H. are supported by the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). T.B., M.M.B., O.W. und A.H. are supported by the Stiftung Universitätsmedizin Essen. M.A.-H. was supported by Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion program, grant IJC2018-035131-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. E.C.S. is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; SCHU 2419/2-1).Peer reviewe

Detailed stratified GWAS analysis for severe COVID-19 in four European populations

Given the highly variable clinical phenotype of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a deeper analysis of the host genetic contribution to severe COVID-19 is important to improve our understanding of underlying disease mechanisms. Here, we describe an extended GWAS meta-analysis of a well-characterized cohort of 3,260 COVID-19 patients with respiratory failure and 12,483 population controls from Italy, Spain, Norway and Germany/Austria, including stratified analyses based on age, sex and disease severity, as well as targeted analyses of chromosome Y haplotypes, the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region and the SARS-CoV-2 peptidome. By inversion imputation, we traced a reported association at 17q21.31 to a highly pleiotropic ∼0.9-Mb inversion polymorphism and characterized the potential effects of the inversion in detail. Our data, together with the 5th release of summary statistics from the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative, also identified a new locus at 19q13.33, including NAPSA, a gene which is expressed primarily in alveolar cells responsible for gas exchange in the lung.Andre Franke and David Ellinghaus were supported by a grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (01KI20197), Andre Franke, David Ellinghaus and Frauke Degenhardt were supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Cluster of Excellence “Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation” (EXC2167). David Ellinghaus was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the framework of the Computational Life Sciences funding concept (CompLS grant 031L0165). David Ellinghaus, Karina Banasik and Søren Brunak acknowledge the Novo Nordisk Foundation (grant NNF14CC0001 and NNF17OC0027594). Tobias L. Lenz, Ana Teles and Onur Özer were funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation), project numbers 279645989; 433116033; 437857095. Mareike Wendorff and Hesham ElAbd are supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) through the Research Training Group 1743, "Genes, Environment and Inflammation". This project was supported by a Covid-19 grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; ID: 01KI20197). Luca Valenti received funding from: Ricerca Finalizzata Ministero della Salute RF2016-02364358, Italian Ministry of Health ""CV PREVITAL – strategie di prevenzione primaria cardiovascolare primaria nella popolazione italiana; The European Union (EU) Programme Horizon 2020 (under grant agreement No. 777377) for the project LITMUS- and for the project ""REVEAL""; Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda ""Ricerca corrente"", Fondazione Sviluppo Ca' Granda ""Liver-BIBLE"" (PR-0391), Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda ""5permille"" ""COVID-19 Biobank"" (RC100017A). Andrea Biondi was supported by the grant from Fondazione Cariplo to Fondazione Tettamanti: "Biobanking of Covid-19 patient samples to support national and international research (Covid-Bank). This research was partly funded by a MIUR grant to the Department of Medical Sciences, under the program "Dipartimenti di Eccellenza 2018–2022". This study makes use of data generated by the GCAT-Genomes for Life. Cohort study of the Genomes of Catalonia, Fundació IGTP. IGTP is part of the CERCA Program / Generalitat de Catalunya. GCAT is supported by Acción de Dinamización del ISCIIIMINECO and the Ministry of Health of the Generalitat of Catalunya (ADE 10/00026); the Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) (2017-SGR 529). Marta Marquié received research funding from ant PI19/00335 Acción Estratégica en Salud, integrated in the Spanish National RDI Plan and financed by ISCIIISubdirección General de Evaluación and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER-Una manera de hacer Europa").Beatriz Cortes is supported by national grants PI18/01512. Xavier Farre is supported by VEIS project (001-P-001647) (cofunded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), “A way to build Europe”). Additional data included in this study was obtained in part by the COVICAT Study Group (Cohort Covid de Catalunya) supported by IsGlobal and IGTP, EIT COVID-19 Rapid Response activity 73A and SR20-01024 La Caixa Foundation. Antonio Julià and Sara Marsal were supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grant numbers: PSE-010000-2006-6 and IPT-010000-2010-36). Antonio Julià was also supported the by national grant PI17/00019 from the Acción Estratégica en Salud (ISCIII) and the FEDER. The Basque Biobank is a hospitalrelated platform that also involves all Osakidetza health centres, the Basque government's Department of Health and Onkologikoa, is operated by the Basque Foundation for Health Innovation and Research-BIOEF. Mario Cáceres received Grants BFU2016-77244-R and PID2019-107836RB-I00 funded by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI, Spain) and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER, EU). Manuel Romero Gómez, Javier Ampuero Herrojo, Rocío Gallego Durán and Douglas Maya Miles are supported by the “Spanish Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Competition, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III” (PI19/01404, PI16/01842, PI19/00589, PI17/00535 and GLD19/00100), and by the Andalussian government (Proyectos Estratégicos-Fondos Feder PE-0451-2018, COVID-Premed, COVID GWAs). The position held by Itziar de Rojas Salarich is funded by grant FI20/00215, PFIS Contratos Predoctorales de Formación en Investigación en Salud. Enrique Calderón's team is supported by CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), "Instituto de Salud Carlos III". Jan Cato Holter reports grants from Research Council of Norway grant no 312780 during the conduct of the study. Dr. Solligård: reports grants from Research Council of Norway grant no 312769. The BioMaterialBank Nord is supported by the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Airway Research Center North (ARCN). The BioMaterialBank Nord is member of popgen 2.0 network (P2N). Philipp Koehler has received non-financial scientific grants from Miltenyi Biotec GmbH, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, and the Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. He is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).Oliver A. Cornely is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education and is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy – CECAD, EXC 2030 – 390661388. The COMRI cohort is funded by Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany. Genotyping was performed by the Genotyping laboratory of Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM Technology Centre, University of Helsinki. This work was supported by grants of the Rolf M. Schwiete Stiftung, the Saarland University, BMBF and The States of Saarland and Lower Saxony. Kerstin U. Ludwig is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG, LU-1944/3-1). Genotyping for the BoSCO study is funded by the Institute of Human Genetics, University Hospital Bonn. Frank Hanses was supported by the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and Arts. Part of the genotyping was supported by a grant to Alfredo Ramirez from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, grant: 01ED1619A, European Alzheimer DNA BioBank, EADB) within the context of the EU Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND). Additional funding was derived from the German Research Foundation (DFG) grant: RA 1971/6-1 to Alfredo Ramirez. Philip Rosenstiel is supported by the DFG (CCGA Sequencing Centre and DFG ExC2167 PMI and by SH state funds for COVID19 research). Florian Tran is supported by the Clinician Scientist Program of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Cluster of Excellence “Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation” (EXC2167). Christoph Lange and Jan Heyckendorf are supported by the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF). Thorsen Brenner, Marc M Berger, Oliver Witzke und Anke Hinney are supported by the Stiftung Universitätsmedizin Essen. Marialbert Acosta-Herrera was supported by Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion program, grant IJC2018-035131-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. Eva C Schulte is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; SCHU 2419/2-1).N

Influence of patellofemoral pain syndrome on lower extremity motion, coordination and imediate effects of an intervention

A síndrome da dor patelofemoral é uma disfunção do joelho comum entre mulheres jovens fisicamente ativas que causa limitações na atividade física e atividades de vida diária, podendo evoluir para a artrite patelofemoral. Este estudo verificou a influência da síndrome da dor patelofemoral nos movimentos e coordenação dos membros inferiores e avaliou os efeitos agudos de uma intervenção cinesioterapêutica em indivíduos com síndrome da dor patelofemoral no descer escada. O Estudo 1 comparou a intensidade da dor, os movimentos, os padrões de coordenação e a variabilidade de coordenação dos membros inferiores de indivíduos com e sem a síndrome da dor patelofemoral durante o descer escada. A cinemática 3D do joelho, tornozelo e multisegmentar do pé foi comparada entre 30 mulheres adultas jovens, 16 com síndrome da dor patelofemoral e 14 controles. Os padrões e a variabilidade da coordenação foram comparados entre os grupos utilizando uma análise do vetor codificado. A escala visual analógica de dor (EVA) foi utilizada para analisar a intensidade da dor. O Estudo 2 verificou os efeitos imediatos de uma intervenção cinesioterapêutica na intensidade da dor e nos movimentos dos membros inferiores de indivíduos com síndrome da dor patelofemoral no descer escada. O grupo com síndrome da dor patelofemoral foi dividido em grupo intervenção cinesioterapêutica (n=8) e grupo controle (n=8). A cinemática 3D e a intensidade da dor (EVA) durante o descer escada foram analisadas antes e depois da intervenção. O Estudo 1 mostrou que a síndrome da dor patelofemoral está relacionada à menor inversão do antepé nas fases iniciais do descer escada e que a intensidade da dor aumenta durante a descida de escada. Os padrões de coordenação do membro inferior mostraram estratégias de restrição da flexão do joelho, assim como restrição da mobilidade do pé em indivíduos com síndrome da dor patelofemoral. Este estudo não confirmou que a menor variabilidade da coordenação está relacionada à síndrome da dor patelofemoral. O Estudo 2 mostrou que uma sessão de intervenção cinesioterapêutica é capaz de modificar os movimentos do tornozelo e pé, consequentemente modificando o movimento do joelho no plano sagital. A intervenção cinesioterapêutica diminui a dor durante a descida de escada em indivíduos com síndrome da dor patelofemoral. Estudos são necessários para a comprovação da eficácia clínica da intervenção cinesioterapêutica em médio e longo prazosPatellofemoral pain syndrome is one of the most common dysfunctions of the knee among physical active young women. This knee dysfunction can limit physical activity as well as daily living activities. Patellofemoral pain syndrome can also lead to patellofemoral arthritis. This study aimed to verify the influence of patellofemoral pain on the lower extremity movements and coordination as well as verify the acute effects of a kinesiotherapy intervention on the lower extremity of individuals with patellofemoral pain during stair descent. On the first study, we compared the pain intensity, the lower extremity movements, coordination patterns and coordination variability between participants with and without patellofemoral pain during stair descent. 3D kinematics of the knee, ankle and multisegmental of the foot were compared between 30 adult young women, 16 with and 14 without patellofemoral pain. The coordination patterns and variability were compared between groups using a modified vector coding technique.The pain intensity was analized using a visual analogic pain scale (VAS). The second study aimed to verify the acute effects of an intervention on the pain intensity and lower extremity movements in participants with patellofemoral pain during stair descent. The participants with patellofemoral pain (n=16) were divided into two groups, intervention group (n=8) and control group (n=8). We analized the 3D kinematics and pain intensity (VAS) before and after the intervention. The outcome measures of the first study show that patellofemoral pain is associated with less forefoot inversion during the support phase of stair descent. Besides that, the pain intensity increases during stair descent in participants with patellofemoral pain. The coordination patterns show strategies of knee flexion constrain as well as mobility constrain of the foot in individuals with patellofemoral pain. The coordination variability was not associated with patellofemoral pain in this study. The second study shows that the intervention can imediatelly modify the foot, ankle and knee movements and decrease the patellofemoral pain during stair descent. Future studies should address the intervention effectiveness in medium and long- ter

Influence of patellofemoral pain syndrome on lower extremity postural alignment and plantar pressure distribution during stair descent and gait

A síndrome da dor patelofemural é uma das disfunções mais comuns que acometem o joelho, principalmente mulheres jovens fisicamente ativas. No entanto, o tratamento permanece desafiador por carecer de bases científicas que direcionem sua reabilitação. Distúrbios no alinhamento estático e dinâmico dos membros inferiores, como a pronação excessiva do retropé, têm sido associados na clínica e embasados teoricamente como fatores de risco para a disfunção. No entanto, estudos experimentais que embasem esta relação ainda são controversos. O objetivo geral deste estudo foi verificar a influência da síndrome da dor patelofemural no alinhamento postural do retropé e joelho, assim como na distribuição da pressão plantar durante a fase apoio do descer escadas e em três subfases do apoio da marcha. Foram estudados 77 adultos jovens de ambos os sexos, divididos em grupo controle (GC=47) e grupo síndrome da dor patelofemural (GSPF=30). Para responder a questões científicas específicas, foram realizados três experimentos. O experimento 1 teve o objetivo específico de verificar a associação entre a síndrome da dor patelofemural e o alinhamento postural dos membros inferiores (n=77; GC=47,GSPF=30). Para tanto, foram avaliadas três medidas clínicas: o ângulo do retropé, o ângulo Q (fotogrametria digital) e a orientação médiolateral da patela (método adaptado de Mc Connell). O experimento 2 teve como objetivo específico investigar a distribuição da pressão plantar de indivíduos com e sem diagnóstico de síndrome da dor patelofemural durante o descer escadas, e avaliar a dor dos sujeitos com essa disfunção antes e após a tarefa proposta (n=74; GC=44,GSPF=30). Para tanto, avaliouse a distribuição da pressão plantar por meio de palmilhas capacitivas (Pedar X System) na fase de apoio do descer escadas e a dor referida pelos sujeitos pela escala analógica visual de dor antes e depois da tarefa motora. O experimento 3 (n=57; GC=35,GSPF=22) buscou especificamente avaliar a influência da síndrome da dor patelofemural na distribuição da pressão plantar durante o contato inicial, médio-apoio e propulsão da fase de apoio da marcha. Os principais resultados demonstraram que não houve influência da disfunção no alinhamento postural do retropé e joelho. No entanto, durante o descer escadas, a síndrome da dor patelofemural esteve associada à um contato medialmente direcionado no retropé e médio-pé, assim como menores sobrecargas plantares, provavelmente associadas ao aumento significativo da dor relatada pelos sujeitos após a tarefa. Na marcha, os sujeitos com a disfunção realizaram novamente um contato inicial medialmente direcionado no retropé e uma propulsão mais lateralizada no antepé. Os resultados deste estudo mostram que a síndrome da dor patelofemural não esteve relacionada ao alinhamento postural do retropé e joelho, mas influenciou o padrão dinâmico da distribuição da pressão plantar tanto na marcha como no descer escadas. Estes achados confirmam a importância da avaliação dinâmica durante a reabilitação dos indivíduos com esta disfunção.Patellofemoral pain syndrome is one of the most common dysfunctions of the knee, particularly among young physically active females. Its treatment remains challenger due to the lack of scientific rationales bases to guide its rehabilitation. Static and dynamic misalignment of the lower extremity, like excessive rearfoot pronation has been clinically and theoretically associated as risk factors for this dysfunction. However, scientific studies to confirm this association are still controversial. The general purpose of this study was to verify the influence of patellofemoral pain syndrome on rearfoot and knee postural alignment as well as on plantar pressure distribution during the stance phase of stair descent and three sub phases of stance gait. 77 young adults of both sexes divided in to control group (GC=47) and patellofemoral pain goup(PFPG=30) were studied. Three experiments were realized in order to respond the specific scientific questions. The experiment 1 had the specific purpose of verify the association between patellofemoral pain syndrome and postural alignment of rearfoot and knee (n=77; CG=47, PFPG=30). Therefore, three clinical measurements were evaluated: rearfoot angle, Q angle (digital photogrammetry) and the medio-lateral orientation of the patella (adapted from McConnell). The experiment 2 aimed specifically to investigate plantar pressure distribution in subjects with and without patellofemoral pain syndrome, during the stair descent, and evaluate the pain referred by the subjects before and after the motor task (n=74;CG=44,PFPG=30), plantar pressure distribution was evaluated with capacitive insoles(Pedar X System) during the stance phase of stair descent as well as the pain referred by the subjects by Visual Analogue Scale before and after the task. The experiment 3 intended specifically to verify the influence of patellofemoral pain syndrome on plantar pressure distribution during initial contact, midstance and propulsion of the gait stance (n=57; GC=35, GSPF=22). The principal results of this study showed that there was no influence of the dysfunction on postural alignment of rearfoot and knee. However, patellofemoral pain syndrome during the stair descent was related to a medially directed contact at the rearfoot and midfoot and lower plantar loads probably due to the increase in pain observed after the task. During gait, the subjects with the dysfunction showed again an initial contact medially directed at the rearfoot and laterally directed propulsion on forefoot. The results of this study show that patellofemoral pain syndrome was not associated to postural alignment but influenced the plantar pressure distribution during gait as well as stair descending task. These findings confirm the importance of the dynamic evaluation of subjects with this dysfunction during their rehabilitation

Medial contact and smaller plantar loads characterize individuals with Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome during stair descent

Objectives: To investigate plantar pressure distribution in individuals with and without Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome during the Support phase of stair descent. Design: Observational case-control study. Participants: 30 Young adults With Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome and 44 matched controls. Main outcome measures: Contact area, peak pressure and pressure-time integral (Novel Pedar-X system) were evaluated in six plantar areas (medial, central and lateral rearfoot: midfoot; medial and lateral forefoot) during stair descent. Results: Contact area was greater in the Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome Group at medial rearfoot (p = 0.019) and midfoot (p < 0.001). Subjects with Patellofemoral pain Syndrome presented smaller peak pressures (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The pattern of plantar pressure distribution during stair descent in Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome Subjects was different from controls. This seems to be related to greater medial rearfoot and midfoot Support. Smaller plantar loads found in Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome subjects during stair descent reveal a more Cautious motor pattern in a challenging task. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.FAPESP (Sao Paulo State Research Foundation)[2005/03803-0