Transportation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Clinical Applications

Cell‐processing procedures are conducted in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practices, and clinical procedures are performed by highly optimised methods. A high‐quality transportation system is essential for safe and effective handling of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) between cell‐processing and transplantation stages. For MSC transportation, either frozen cell or non‐frozen cell transportation is performed. There are many requirements for transporting a package by either type of transportation. In frozen cell transportation, some issues have yet to be resolved: the primary receptacle and cryoprotectant reagents. In non‐frozen cell transportation, control of cell metabolism and protection from environmental changes are more serious problems. Stabilisation of temperature, shock resistance, gas control, and an ultraviolet radiation (UVR) shielding technology should be considered. The transportation system should be established in compliance with the guidelines. Both development of a high‐quality transportation package and establishment of a high‐quality transportation system are important for the effective use of MSCs in clinical applications

A Strategy of Bone Regeneration for the Treatment of Idiopathic Femoral Head Necrosis

Femoral head necrosis (FHN) is a difficult disease to treat. FHN results from an obstruction in the blood supply to the femoral head, which causes death of the bone-forming cells. For effective treatment of FHN, an osteogenic cell supply, revascularization, and provision of initial strength to resist collapse are needed. Evidence of favorable outcomes of cell transplantation therapy for the treatment of FHN is emerging. However, outcomes of treatment are influenced by the underlying FHN etiology and clinical stage. Therefore, understanding the epidemiology, clinical stage, and disease status of FHN is essential to inform treatment planning based on evidence. The aim of the chapter is to present and critically discuss the role of cell replacement therapy for the treatment of FHN based on clinical status

Increased recurrent falls experience in older adults with coexisting of sarcopenia and knee osteoarthritis: a cross-sectional study

Background: Sarcopenia and knee osteoarthritis (OA) are two major risk factors for falls in older adults. The coexistence of these two conditions may exacerbate the risk of falls. This cross-sectional study aimed to test the hypothesis that older adults with coexisting sarcopenia and knee OA displayed an increased risk of falls experience. Methods: Participants recruited from an orthopedic clinic were divided into four groups according to the presence of sarcopenia and radiographic knee OA: isolated sarcopenia, isolated knee OA, sarcopenia + knee OA, and control (i.e., non-sarcopenia with non-OA) groups. We used questionnaires to assess falls experience in the prior 12 months. We performed logistic regression analyses to evaluate the relationship between the four groups and falls experience. Results: Of 291 participants (age: 60-90 years, 78.7% women) included in this study, 25 (8.6%) had sarcopenia + knee OA. Participants with sarcopenia + knee OA had 4.17 times (95% confidence interval: 0.84, 20.6) higher odds of recurrent falls (≥2 falls) than controls after adjustment for age, sex, and body mass index. The increased recurrent falls experience was not clearly confirmed in participants with isolated sarcopenia and isolated knee OA. Conclusions: People with coexisting of sarcopenia and knee OA displayed increased recurrent falls experience. This study suggests a new concept, "sarcopenic knee OA", as a subgroup associated with higher risk of falls, which should be validated in future large cohort studies.Trial registration. Not applicable

A Case of Successful Rehabilitation for Controlling Chronic Pain Following Osteonecrosis of the Femoral Head in a Young Adult Cancer Survivor

A 26-year-old woman previously treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) 14 years ago faced challenges in managing chronic pain resulting from right femoral head necrosis, a complication of her earlier ALL treatment. Ultimately, the persistent chronic pain was successfully treated via a comprehensive rehabilitation approach. The patient presented with hip contractures, muscle weakness, and reduced endurance without evident arthropathic changes or inflammatory findings in the femoral head. Active physiotherapy was implemented with the primary objective of increasing her social activity. This therapeutic intervention effectively managed the severe pain without the necessity for analgesic drugs, leading to a significant improvement in the patient's social activity. Recognizing the adolescent and young adult age group as a critical phase of physical, psychological, and social development, cancer survivors within this age group require multimodal care. This study highlights the role of stepwise rehabilitation treatments involving stretching, muscle strengthening, and endurance training, particularly in challenging cases of chronic pain. Post-treatment interviews revealed that successful experiences in each movement contributed to increased self-efficacy and promoted not only the control of chronic pain but also fostered improvements in social activities

The influence of interest in tasks on the autonomic nervous system

Although prior studies have indicated the relationships among decreased parasympathetic activity, schizophrenia, and depression, the physiological effects of psychiatric occupational therapy tasks have not been adequately explored. Therefore, it is necessary to quantitatively examine the physiological changes in the autonomic nervous system when performing such tasks to devise more individualized therapies. Accordingly, we examined the influence of task interest and its relationship with psychological characteristics. The participants included in this study were 22 healthy individuals. They completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and the Social Phobia Scale. Participants selected the most and least interesting bookmarks from a set of 19 different color options, and indicated their degree of interest on a visual analog scale. An electrocardiogram was used during each task to record participants' cardiac sympathetic index (CSI) and cardiac vagal index (CVI) as they performed two tasks (interesting and uninteresting). The correlations between the degree of interest and CSI/CVI, and between the scores of the questionnaires and CSI/CVI were examined. There was a negative correlation between the degree of interest and CSI during the uninteresting task. Task interest may have contributed to suppressing sympathetic dominance and reducing mental and physiological loads, even if the tasks differed only color-wise. Physiological effects emerged from participants’ degree of task interest. Further identification of objective and therapeutic mechanisms may lead to wider applications of activities in different areas

The Relationship Between Information Sources, Health Literacy, and COVID-19 Knowledge in the COVID-19 Infodemic: Cross-sectional Online Study in Japan

[Background:] The COVID-19 pandemic has caused not only a disease epidemic but also an infodemic. Due to the increased use of the internet and social media, along with the development of communication technology, information has spread faster and farther during the COVID-19 infodemic. Moreover, the increased choice of information sources has made it more difficult to make sound decisions regarding information. Although social media is the most common source of misinformation, other forms of media can also spread misinformation. However, the media sources used by people with high health literacy and COVID-19 knowledge to obtain information are unclear. Furthermore, the association between the use of multiple information sources and health literacy or COVID-19 knowledge is ill-defined. [Objective:] This study aims to examine the following 3 aspects regarding the COVID-19 infodemic: (1) the relationship between health literacy, COVID-19 knowledge, and the number of information sources used; (2) the impact of media use on health literacy; and (3) the impact of media use on COVID-19 knowledge. [Methods:] An online cross-sectional study was conducted in November 2021. Participants were 477 individuals aged 20-69 years. After obtaining consent to participate in the study, participants were asked about sociodemographic indicators, sources of health-related information, health literacy, and COVID-19 knowledge. Sources of health-related information were categorized into 4 types: mass media, digital media, social media, and face-to-face communication. The Spearman rank correlation test was conducted to determine the relationship between health literacy, the number of correct answers to COVID-19 knowledge, and the number of information sources used. Multiple regression analysis was conducted with health literacy and the number of correct answers as dependent variables, the 4 media types as independent variables, and age and sex as adjustment variables. [Results:] Mass media was the most frequently used source of information, followed by digital media, face-to-face communication, and social media. Social media use was significantly higher among individuals aged 20-29 years than among other age groups. Significant positive correlations were found between health literacy, the number of positive responses to COVID-19 knowledge, and the number of information sources used. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that health literacy is associated with access to information from digital media and face-to-face communication. Additionally, COVID-19 knowledge was associated with access to information from mass media, digital media, and face-to-face communication. [Conclusions:] Health literacy and COVID-19 knowledge could be improved using diverse information sources, especially by providing opportunities to use digital media and face-to-face communication. Furthermore, it may be important to improve health literacy and provide accurate knowledge about COVID-19 to young adults

Regenerative Rehabilitation for Stroke Recovery by Inducing Synergistic Effects of Cell Therapy and Neurorehabilitation on Motor Function: A Narrative Review of Pre-Clinical Studies

Neurological diseases severely affect the quality of life of patients. Although existing treatments including rehabilitative therapy aim to facilitate the recovery of motor function, achieving complete recovery remains a challenge. In recent years, regenerative therapy has been considered as a potential candidate that could yield complete functional recovery. However, to achieve desirable results, integration of transplanted cells into neural networks and generation of appropriate microenvironments are essential. Furthermore, considering the nascent state of research in this area, we must understand certain aspects about regenerative therapy, including specific effects, nature of interaction when administered in combination with rehabilitative therapy (regenerative rehabilitation), and optimal conditions. Herein, we review the current status of research in the field of regenerative therapy, discuss the findings that could hold the key to resolving the challenges associated with regenerative rehabilitation, and outline the challenges to be addressed with future studies. The current state of research emphasizes the importance of determining the independent effect of regenerative and rehabilitative therapies before exploring their combined effects. Furthermore, the current review highlights the progression in the treatment perspective from a state of compensation of lost function to that of a possibility of complete functional recovery

Development of a system for the assessment of a dual-task performance based on a motion-capture device

The authors produced a dual task (DT) that provided a dynamic balance task and a cognitive task in a game system using motion sensors and virtual images. There had been no DT where a cognitive task needs a dynamic balance task that requires full-body motions. We developed and evaluated a game system to assess the performance of the DT. The DT was to solve a Sudoku puzzle using full-body motions like Tái Chi. An ability to perform a DT is intimately related to risk of falls. To evaluate the developed system, we compared the performance of elderly people and young people. Generally, elderly people are at a higher risk of falls. Twenty elderly community-dwelling adults (mean age, 73.0±6.2 years) and 16 young adults (mean age, 21.8±1.0 years) participated in this study. To compare the two groups, we applied an independent-samples t-test. The time taken for the elderly people was 60.6±43.2 s, whereas the time taken for the young people was 16.0±4.8 s. The difference is statistically significant (p<0.05). This result suggests that the developed game system is useful for the evaluation of the DT performance

Effects of in vivo cyclic compressive loading on the distribution of local Col2 and superficial lubricin in rat knee cartilage

This study aimed to examine the effects of an episode of in vivo cyclic loading on rat knee articular cartilage (AC) under medium-term observation, while also investigating relevant factors associated with the progression of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA). Twelve-week-old Wistar rats underwent one episode comprising 60 cycles of 20 N or 50 N dynamic compression on the right knee joint. Spatiotemporal changes in the AC after loading were evaluated using histology and immunohistochemistry at 3 days and 1, 2, 4, and 8 weeks after loading (n = 6 for each condition). Chondrocyte vitality was assessed at 1, 3, 6, and 12 hours after loading (n = 2 for each condition). A localized AC lesion on the lateral femoral condyle was confirmed in all subjects. The surface and intermediate cartilage in the affected area degenerated after loading, but the calcified cartilage remained intact. Expression of type II collagen in the lesion cartilage was upregulated after loading, whereas the superficial lubricin layer was eroded in response to cyclic compression. However, the distribution of superficial lubricin gradually recovered to the normal level 4 weeks after loading-induced injury. We confirmed that 60 repetitions of cyclic loading exceeding 20 N could result in cartilage damage in the rat knee. Endogenous repairs in well-structured joints work well to rebuild protective layers on the lesion cartilage surface, which may be the latent factor delaying the progression of PTOA