Effect of exercise training and dopamine agonists in patients with uremic restless legs syndrome: A six-month randomized, partially double-blind, placebo-controlled comparative study

© 2013 The Authors. Published by BMC. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2369-14-194Background: Restless Legs Syndrome is very common in hemodialysis patients however there are no comparative studies assessing the effectiveness of a non-pharmacological treatment to a classical treatment on parameters related to syndromes' severity and quality of life. Methods. In this randomized, partially double blind, placebo controlled trial, thirty two hemodialysis patients with restless legs syndrome were randomly assigned into three groups: 1) the exercise training group (N = 16), 2) the dopamine agonists group (ropinirole 0.25 mg/d) (N = 8) and 3) the placebo group (N = 8). The intervention programs lasted 6 months. Restless Legs Syndrome severity was assessed using the international severity scale, physical performance by a battery of tests, muscle size and composition by computed tomography, body composition by Dual Energy X Ray Absorptiometry, while depression score, sleep quality, daily sleepiness and quality of life were assessed through questionnaires. Results: Exercise training and dopamine agonists were effective in reducing syndrome's symptoms by 46% (P = 0.009) and 54% (P = 0.001) respectively. Within group changes revealed that both approaches significantly improved quality of life (P 0.05) in various tests. Between group changes detect significant improvements with both exercise and dopamine agonists in depression score (P = 0.003), while only the dopamine agonist treatment was able to significantly improve sleep quality, compared to exercise and placebo (P = 0.016). Conclusions: A 6-month exercise training regime was as effective as a 6-month low dosage dopamine agonist treatment in reducing restless legs syndrome symptoms and improving depression score in uremic patients. Further research is needed in order to show whether a combination treatment could be more beneficial for the amelioration of RLS. Trial registration. NCT00942253. © 2013 Giannaki et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.This study was supported by the National and Community Funds of the Greek Ministry of Development-General Secretariat of Research and Technology and by the European Social Fund.Published versio

Chemotactic antiviral cytokines promote infectious apical entry of human adenovirus into polarized epithelial cells

Mucosal epithelia provide strong barriers against pathogens. For instance, the outward facing apical membrane of polarized epithelial cells lacks receptors for agents, such as hepatitis C virus, herpesvirus, reovirus, poliovirus or adenovirus. In addition, macrophages eliminate pathogens from the luminal space. Here we show that human adenovirus type 5 engages an antiviral immune response to enter polarized epithelial cells. Blood-derived macrophages co-cultured apically on polarized epithelial cells facilitate epithelial infection. Infection also occurs in the absence of macrophages, if virus-conditioned macrophage-medium containing the chemotactic cytokine CXCL8 (interleukin-8), or recombinant CXCL8 are present. In polarized cells, CXCL8 activates a Src-family tyrosine kinase via the apical CXCR1 and CXCR2 receptors. This activation process relocates the viral co-receptor ανβ3 integrin to the apical surface, and enables apical binding and infection with adenovirus depending on the primary adenovirus receptor CAR. This paradigm may explain how other mucosal pathogens enter epithelial cells

Mapping RNA-Chromatin Interactions In Vivo with RNA-DamID

Long-noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as regulators of development and disease. lncRNAs are expressed in exquisitely precise expression patterns in vivo and many interact with chromatin to regulate gene expression. However, the limited sensitivity of RNA-purification techniques has precluded the identification of genomic targets of cell-type specific lncRNAs. RNA-DamID is a powerful new approach to understand the mechanisms by which lncRNAs act in vivo. RNA-DamID is highly sensitive and accurate, and can resolve cell-type-specific chromatin binding patterns without cell isolation. The determinants of RNA-chromatin interactions can be identified with RNA-DamID by analyzing RNA and protein cofactor mutants. Here we describe how to implement RNA-DamID and the design considerations to take into account to accurately identify lncRNA-chromatin interactions in vivo

Mapping RNA-Chromatin Interactions In Vivo with RNA-DamID.

Long-noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as regulators of development and disease. lncRNAs are expressed in exquisitely precise expression patterns in vivo and many interact with chromatin to regulate gene expression. However, the limited sensitivity of RNA-purification techniques has precluded the identification of genomic targets of cell-type specific lncRNAs. RNA-DamID is a powerful new approach to understand the mechanisms by which lncRNAs act in vivo. RNA-DamID is highly sensitive and accurate, and can resolve cell-type-specific chromatin binding patterns without cell isolation. The determinants of RNA-chromatin interactions can be identified with RNA-DamID by analyzing RNA and protein cofactor mutants. Here we describe how to implement RNA-DamID and the design considerations to take into account to accurately identify lncRNA-chromatin interactions in vivo