Cytoprotection and healing: Two unequal brethren

The promotion of the concept of cytoprotection has fostered hopes that the use of co-prescribed mucosal protective agents would revolutionize the prevention of NSAID-induced ulcers and supply the basis for novel ulcer therapy. Prostaglandins do not, however, accelerate ulcer healing when applied at doses that exert an unequivocal cytoprotective activity. Attempts have therefore been made in recent years to create new less-toxic NSAIDs, such as combined lipoxygenase/cyclo-oxygenase inhibitors, NSAIDs coupled to an NO donor and so-called COX-2 inhibitors. All these preparations do in fact exert a diminished gastrointestinal toxicity. There is however increasing evidence accumulating from studies performed in and outside our laboratories that in chromic ulcer models their increased gastrointestinal tolerance is not necessarily reflected by non-interference with ulcer healing. It is thus mandatory to distinguish between cytoprotective and healing properties of drugs interfering with the cyclo-oxygenase pathwa

Neuromuscular assessment of force development, postural, and gait performance under cognitive-motor dual-tasking in healthy older adults and people with early Parkinson's disease: Study protocol for a cross-sectional Mobile Brain/Body Imaging (MoBI) study

Background: Neuromuscular dysfunction is common in older adults and more pronounced in neurodegenerative diseases. In Parkinson's disease (PD), a complex set of factors often prevents the effective performance of activities of daily living that require intact and simultaneous performance of the motor and cognitive tasks. Methods: The cross-sectional study includes a multifactorial mixed-measure design. Between-subject factor grouping the sample will be Parkinson’s Disease (early PD vs. healthy). The within-subject factors will be the task complexity (single- vs. dual-task) in each motor activity, i.e., overground walking, semi-tandem stance, and isometric knee extension, and a walking condition (wide vs. narrow lane) will be implemented for the overground walking activity only. To study dual-task (DT) effects, in each motor activity participants will be given a secondary cognitive task, i.e., a visual discrimination task for the overground walking, an attention task for the semi-tandem, and mental arithmetic for the isometric extension. Analyses of DT effects and underlying neuronal correlates will focus on both gait and cognitive performance where applicable. Based on an a priori sample size calculation, a total N = 42 older adults (55–75 years) will be recruited. Disease-specific changes such as laterality in motor unit behavior and cortical control of movement will be studied with high-density surface electromyography and electroencephalography during static and dynamic motor activities, together with whole-body kinematics. Discussion: This study will be one of the first to holistically address early PD neurophysiological and neuromuscular patterns in an ecologically valid environment under cognitive-motor DT conditions of different complexities. The outcomes of the study aim to identify the biomarker for early PD either at the electrophysiological, muscular or kinematic level or in the communication between these systems. Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.Gov, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05477654?term=NCT05477654&draw=2&rank=1 NCT05477654. This study was approved by the Medical Ethical Committee (106/2021)