Acute Hyperglycemia Worsens Hepatic Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Rats

Acute hyperglycemia is known to worsen ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury following myocardial infarction and stroke. We investigated whether acute hyperglycemia worsens injury and amplifies the inflammatory response evoked by hepatic I/R. Rats were pretreated with an intraperitoneal injection of 25% glucose or 0.9% sodium chloride (10 ml/kg BW). Subsequently, rats underwent partial (70%) hepatic ischemia for 45 min. After 4 h of reperfusion, hepatic injury, oxidative stress, inflammation, and heat shock protein expression were assessed. Liver injury was increased in the hyperglycemic group with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferease (AST) serum concentrations of 7,832 ± 3,374 and 10,677 ± 4,110 U/L compared to 3,245 ± 2,009 and 5,386 ± 3,393 U/L (p < 0.05 vs. control). Hyperglycemic I/R was associated with increased liver nitrotyrosine concentrations and increased neutrophil infiltration. I/R upregulated the protective heat shock proteins HSP32 and HSP70 in control animals, but this protective mechanism was inhibited by hyperglycemia: HSP32 expression decreased from 1.97 ± 0.89 (control) to 0.46 ± 0.13 (hyperglycemia), HSP70 expression decreased from 18.99 ± 11.55 (control) to 3.22 ± 0.56 (hyperglycemia), (expression normalized to sham, both p < 0.05 vs. control I/R). Acute hyperglycemia worsens hepatic I/R injury by amplifying oxidative stress and the inflammatory response to I/R. The increase in injury is associated with a downregulation of the protective heat shock proteins HSP32 and HSP70

Protocol for regional implementation of collaborative self-management services to promote physical activity

Background: Chronic diseases are generating a major health and societal burden worldwide. Healthy lifestyles, including physical activity (PA), have proven efficacy in the prevention and treatment of many chronic conditions. But, so far, national PA surveillance systems, as well as strategies for promotion of PA, have shown low impact. We hypothesize that personalized modular PA services, aligned with healthcare, addressing the needs of a broad spectrum of individual profiles may show cost-effectiveness and sustainability. Methods: The current manuscript describes the protocol for regional implementation of collaborative self-management services to promote PA in Catalonia (7.5 M habitants) during the period 2017-2019. The protocols of three implementation studies encompassing a broad spectrum of individual needs are reported. They have a quasi-experimental design. That is, a non-randomized intervention group is compared to a control group (usual care) using propensity score methods wherein age, gender and population-based health risk assessment are main matching variables. The principal innovations of the PA program are: i) Implementation of well-structured modular interventions promoting PA; ii) Information and communication technologies (ICT) to facilitate patient accessibility, support collaborative management of individual care plans and reduce costs; and iii) Assessment strategies based on the Triple Aim approach during and beyond the program deployment. Discussion: The manuscript reports a precise roadmap for large scale deployment of community-based ICT-supported integrated care services to promote healthy lifestyles with high potential for comparability and transferability to other sites. Trial registration: This study protocol has been registered at ClinicalTrials.org ( NCT02976064 ). Registered November 24th, 2016

Evaluation of integrated care services in Catalonia:population-based and service-based real-life deployment protocols

BackgroundComprehensive assessment of integrated care deployment constitutes a major challenge to ensure quality, sustainability and transferability of both healthcare policies and services in the transition toward a coordinated service delivery scenario. To this end, the manuscript articulates four different protocols aiming at assessing large-scale implementation of integrated care, which are being developed within the umbrella of the regional project Nextcare (2016-2019), undertaken to foster innovation in technologically-supported services for chronic multimorbid patients in Catalonia (ES) (7.5M inhabitants).Whereas one of the assessment protocols is designed to evaluate population-based deployment of care coordination at regional level during the period 2011-2017, the other three are service-based protocols addressing: i) Home hospitalization; ii) Prehabilitation for major surgery; and, iii) Community-based interventions for frail elderly chronic patients. All three services have demonstrated efficacy and potential for health value generation. They reflect different implementation maturity levels. While full coverage of the entire urban health district of Barcelona-Esquerra (520k inhabitants) is the main aim of home hospitalization, demonstration of sustainability at Hospital Clinic of Barcelona constitutes the core goal of the prehabilitation service. Likewise, full coverage of integrated care services addressed to frail chronic patients is aimed at the city of Badalona (216k inhabitants).MethodsThe population-based analysis, as well as the three service-based protocols, follow observational and experimental study designs using a non-randomized intervention group (integrated care) compared with a control group (usual care) with a propensity score matching method. Evaluation of cost-effectiveness of the interventions using a Quadruple aim approach is a central outcome in all protocols. Moreover, multi-criteria decision analysis is explored as an innovative method for health delivery assessment. The following additional dimensions will also be addressed: i) Determinants of sustainability and scalability of the services; ii) Assessment of the technological support; iii) Enhanced health risk assessment; and, iv) Factors modulating service transferability.DiscussionThe current study offers a unique opportunity to undertake a comprehensive assessment of integrated care fostering deployment of services at regional level. The study outcomes will contribute refining service workflows, improving health risk assessment and generating recommendations for service selection.Trials registrationNCT03130283 (date released 04/06/2018), NCT03768050 (date released 12/05/2018), NCT03767387 (date released 12/05/2018).</p

Evaluation of integrated care services in Catalonia: Population-based and service-based real-life deployment protocols

Background: Comprehensive assessment of integrated care deployment constitutes a major challenge to ensure quality, sustainability and transferability of both healthcare policies and services in the transition toward a coordinated service delivery scenario. To this end, the manuscript articulates four different protocols aiming at assessing large-scale implementation of integrated care, which are being developed within the umbrella of the regional project Nextcare (2016-2019), undertaken to foster innovation in technologically-supported services for chronic multimorbid patients in Catalonia (ES) (7.5 M inhabitants). Whereas one of the assessment protocols is designed to evaluate population-based deployment of care coordination at regional level during the period 2011-2017, the other three are service-based protocols addressing: i) Home hospitalization; ii) Prehabilitation for major surgery; and, iii) Community-based interventions for frail elderly chronic patients. All three services have demonstrated efficacy and potential for health value generation. They reflect different implementation maturity levels. While full coverage of the entire urban health district of Barcelona-Esquerra (52

Pre operative cardio pulmonary assessment of the liver transplant candidate

Given the severe shortage of liver donors, a carefully evaluation and selection of patients who are likely to obtain a significant survival benefit from liver transplantation (LT) is imperative in order to attain successful outcomes. Cardiovascular and respiratory events remain one of the leading causes of non-graft-related death in LT. A variety of pre-existing cardiac and pulmonary disorders are commonly identified in LT recipients, more so than in the general population. Uncertainties regarding the optimal assessment of cardiovascular and respiratory function in potential transplant candidates have produced a wide variation in the clinical care of tjis population. There is still no consensus on which assessment algorithm confers the best outcomes. Once the diagnosis has been established, the prognosis should be estimated for risk stratification and to confirm the candidacy for LT. Additionally, the challenge remains in knowing how cardiac or respiratory derangements in candidates affect the long-term outcome after LT and which is the magnitude of risk that we as physicians are willing to accept. This article discusses the cardiac and pulmonary aspects of liver disease that may impact recipient selection. Relevant literature focused upon the most common entities in this field is presented in this review

Acute hyperglycemia worsens hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats.

Background/aimsAcute hyperglycemia is known to worsen ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury following myocardial infarction and stroke. We investigated whether acute hyperglycemia worsens injury and amplifies the inflammatory response evoked by hepatic I/R.MethodsRats were pretreated with an intraperitoneal injection of 25% glucose or 0.9% sodium chloride (10 ml/kg BW). Subsequently, rats underwent partial (70%) hepatic ischemia for 45 min. After 4 h of reperfusion, hepatic injury, oxidative stress, inflammation, and heat shock protein expression were assessed.ResultsLiver injury was increased in the hyperglycemic group with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferease (AST) serum concentrations of 7,832 +/- 3,374 and 10,677 +/- 4,110 U/L compared to 3,245 +/- 2,009 and 5,386 +/- 3,393 U/L (p &lt; 0.05 vs. control). Hyperglycemic I/R was associated with increased liver nitrotyrosine concentrations and increased neutrophil infiltration. I/R upregulated the protective heat shock proteins HSP32 and HSP70 in control animals, but this protective mechanism was inhibited by hyperglycemia: HSP32 expression decreased from 1.97 +/- 0.89 (control) to 0.46 +/- 0.13 (hyperglycemia), HSP70 expression decreased from 18.99 +/- 11.55 (control) to 3.22 +/- 0.56 (hyperglycemia), (expression normalized to sham, both p &lt; 0.05 vs. control I/R).ConclusionsAcute hyperglycemia worsens hepatic I/R injury by amplifying oxidative stress and the inflammatory response to I/R. The increase in injury is associated with a downregulation of the protective heat shock proteins HSP32 and HSP70

Multimodal prehabilitation as strategy for reduction of postoperative complications after cardiac surgery: a randomised controlled trial protocol

Introduction Prehabilitation programmes that combine exercise training, nutritional support and emotional reinforcement (multimodal prehabilitation) have demonstrated efficacy reducing postoperative complications in the context of abdominal surgery. However, such programmes have seldom been studied in cardiac surgery, one of the surgeries associated with higher postoperative morbidity and mortality. This trial will assess the feasibility and efficacy in terms of reduction of postoperative complications and cost-effectiveness of a multimodal prehabilitation programme comparing to the standard of care in cardiac surgical patients.Methods and analysis This is a single-centre, randomised, open-label, controlled trial with a 1:1 ratio. Consecutive 160 elective valve replacement and/or coronary revascularisation surgical patients will be randomised to either standard of care or 4–6 weeks of multimodal prehabilitation that will consist in (1) two times/week supervised endurance and strength exercise training sessions, (2) promotion of physical activity and healthy lifestyle, (3) respiratory physiotherapy, (4) nutrition counselling and supplementation if needed, and (5) weekly mindfulness sessions. Baseline, preoperative and 3-month postoperative data will be collected by an independent blinded evaluator. The primary outcome of this study will be the incidence of postoperative complications.Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Clinical investigation of Hospital Clinic de Barcelona (HCB/2017/0708). The results will be disseminated in a peer-reviewed journal.Trial registration number NCT03466606

Feasibility of a Multimodal Prehabilitation Programme in Patients Undergoing Cytoreductive Surgery for Advanced Ovarian Cancer: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Treatment for advanced ovarian cancer (AOC) comprises cytoreductive surgery combined with chemotherapy. Multimodal prehabilitation programmes before surgery have demonstrated efficacy in postoperative outcomes in non-gynaecological surgeries. However, the viability and effects of these programmes on patients with AOC are unknown. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility and postoperative impact of a multimodal prehabilitation programme in AOC patients undergoing surgery. Methods: This single-centre, before-and-after intervention pilot study included 34 patients in two cohorts: the prehabilitation cohort prospectively included 15 patients receiving supervised exercise, nutritional optimisation, and psychological preparation from December 2019 to January 2021; the control cohort included 19 consecutive patients between January 2018 and November 2019. Enhanced Recovery After Surgery guidelines were followed. Results: The overall adherence to the multimodal prehabilitation programme was 80%, with 86.7% adherence to exercise training, 100% adherence to nutritional optimisation, and 80% adherence to psychological preparation. The median hospital stay was shorter in the prehabilitation cohort (5 (IQR, 4&ndash;6) vs. 7 days (IQR, 5&ndash;9) in the control cohort, p = 0.04). Differences in postoperative complications using the comprehensive complication index (CCI) were not significant (CCI score: 9.3 (SD 12.12) in the prehabilitation cohort vs. 16.61 (SD 16.89) in the control cohort, p = 0.08). The median time to starting chemotherapy was shorter in the prehabilitation cohort (25 (IQR, 23&ndash;25) vs. 35 days (IQR, 28&ndash;45) in the control cohort, p = 0.03). Conclusions: A multimodal prehabilitation programme before cytoreductive surgery is feasible in AOC patients with no major adverse effects, and results in significantly shorter hospital stays and time to starting chemotherapy

Feasibility of a Multimodal Prehabilitation Programme in Patients Undergoing Cytoreductive Surgery for Advanced Ovarian Cancer: A Pilot Study

Introduction: Treatment for advanced ovarian cancer (AOC) comprises cytoreductive surgery combined with chemotherapy. Multimodal prehabilitation programmes before surgery have demonstrated efficacy in postoperative outcomes in non-gynaecological surgeries. However, the viability and effects of these programmes on patients with AOC are unknown. We aimed to evaluate the feasibility and postoperative impact of a multimodal prehabilitation programme in AOC patients undergoing surgery. Methods: This single-centre, before-and-after intervention pilot study included 34 patients in two cohorts: the prehabilitation cohort prospectively included 15 patients receiving supervised exercise, nutritional optimisation, and psychological preparation from December 2019 to January 2021; the control cohort included 19 consecutive patients between January 2018 and November 2019. Enhanced Recovery After Surgery guidelines were followed. Results: The overall adherence to the multimodal prehabilitation programme was 80%, with 86.7% adherence to exercise training, 100% adherence to nutritional optimisation, and 80% adherence to psychological preparation. The median hospital stay was shorter in the prehabilitation cohort (5 (IQR, 4-6) vs. 7 days (IQR, 5-9) in the control cohort, p = 0.04). Differences in postoperative complications using the comprehensive complication index (CCI) were not significant (CCI score: 9.3 (SD 12.12) in the prehabilitation cohort vs. 16.61 (SD 16.89) in the control cohort, p = 0.08). The median time to starting chemotherapy was shorter in the prehabilitation cohort (25 (IQR, 23-25) vs. 35 days (IQR, 28-45) in the control cohort, p = 0.03). Conclusions: A multimodal prehabilitation programme before cytoreductive surgery is feasible in AOC patients with no major adverse effects, and results in significantly shorter hospital stays and time to starting chemotherapy