Effects of an exercise intervention for older heart failure patients on caregiver burden and emotional distress.

BACKGROUND: The impact of exercise programmes for heart failure on those close to the patient is largely unknown. We examined the effect of a hospital and home-based exercise intervention on burden, anxiety and depression of informal caregivers. DESIGN: The study was a randomized, controlled trial. Heart failure patients were randomized to a seated 12-week hospital-based exercise programme. Caregiver measures were gathered at baseline, 3 months later and 6 months following baseline. METHODS: Sixty caregivers (mean age 63.4 years, 65% female) of heart failure patients (n = 82, mean age 80.5 years, 44% female) participating in a trial of an exercise intervention were recruited. Caregiver burden, anxiety and depression were assessed. RESULTS: There were no differences in caregiver burden, depression or anxiety between the two groups of caregivers at baseline (caregiver burden, patient control 33.1 versus patient exercise 34.1; anxiety 4.1 versus 5.5; depression 2.8 versus 3.8). At 3 months there were no differences between caregivers in the two groups on outcomes. At 6-month follow-up caregivers of heart failure patients in the exercise group had burden scores that were significantly worse than the control group. There were no differences between the carers of exercise and control groups in anxiety and depression. Levels of anxiety and depression in the entire carer sample were marginally higher than reference values in a healthy non-clinical sample. CONCLUSION: The present exercise interventions for frail older patients did not benefit caregivers and was associated with an increase in caregiver burden. We suggest that future exercise interventions for heart failure patients should actively incorporate informal caregivers into research designs.     

Urinary cyclic AMP response to bovine parathyroid hormone during treatment with neuroleptics

The urinary cyclic AMP response to bovine parathyroid hormone and urinary concentrating ability (max Uosm) after des-amino-D -arginine vasopressin were studies in nine volunteers and seven patients receiving long-term neuroleptic treatment. Max Uosm was lower in the patient group (770 ± 70 mosmol/kg) compared with the controls (948 ± 152 mosmol/kg) but the trend to a lower cAMP response to bovine PTH was not statistically significant. These results suggest that, although adenylate cyclase inhibition may contribute, other mechanisms are also important in the genesis of reduced uring concentrating ability in patients treated with psychotropic drugs.     

The glycosaminoglycans of the gubernaculum during testicular descent in the fetus

Tissues were obtained from 387 male pig fetuses ranging from 60 to 120 days of gestation. The relative wet mass and water content of the gubernaculum increased during and decreased after the period of testicular descent. The extracellular glycosaminoglycans (GAG) were assayed to determine whether these polyanionic macromolecules are responsible for the increased water content of the gubernaculum. The total GAG/wet tissue mass in the gubernaculum decreased during and increased after descent, while the total GAG/dry mass decreased during and after descent, indicating an accumulation of water during descent, with a loss of water and an increase in less hydrated tissue components after descent. The major GAG fraction in the gubernaculum was dermatan sulfate, but the percentage hyaluronate in the gubernaculum was two times higher than in striated muscle or umbilical cord, indicating that this GAG fraction may be responsible for the increased water content of the gubernaculum, which probably serves to dilate the inguinal canal and scrotum, thus facilitating descent.     

Vectorization of morpholino oligomers by the (R-Ahx-R)4 peptide allows efficient splicing correction in the absence of endosomolytic agents.

The efficient and non-toxic nuclear delivery of steric-block oligonucleotides (ON) is a prerequisite for therapeutic strategies involving splice correction or exon skipping. Cationic cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) have given rise to much interest for the intracellular delivery of biomolecules, but their efficiency in promoting cytoplasmic or nuclear delivery of oligonucleotides has been hampered by endocytic sequestration and subsequent degradation of most internalized material in endocytic compartments. In the present study, we compared the splice correction activity of three different CPPs conjugated to PMO(705), a steric-block ON targeted against the mutated splicing site of human beta-globin pre-mRNA in the HeLa pLuc705 splice correction model. In contrast to Tat48-60 (Tat) and oligoarginine (R(9)F(2)) PMO(705) conjugates, the 6-aminohexanoic-spaced oligoarginine (R-Ahx-R)(4)-PMO(705) conjugate was able to promote an efficient splice correction in the absence of endosomolytic agents. Our mechanistic investigations about its uptake mechanisms lead to the conclusion that these three vectors are internalized using the same endocytic route involving proteoglycans, but that the (R-Ahx-R)(4)-PMO(705) conjugate has the unique ability to escape from lysosomial fate and to access to the nuclear compartment. This vector, which has displays an extremely low cytotoxicity, the ability to function without chloroquine adjunction and in the presence of serum proteins. It thus offers a promising lead for the development of vectors able to enhance the delivery of therapeutic steric-block ON in clinically relevant models.     

ERP evidence of impaired central nervous system function in virally suppressed HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on central nervous system (CNS) function in patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) who have suppressed viral loads. METHODS: Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 15 virally suppressed HIV patients and 15 age-, sex-, and education-matched controls while they performed a 3-stimulus auditory oddball task. The amplitude and latency of the P3a, P3b, and early auditory components were examined in HIV patients and controls. RESULTS: Virally suppressed HIV patients on ART were more depressed than controls, as determined by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). After controlling for the effects of depression, HIV patients had smaller P2, P3a, and P3b amplitudes and longer P3a and P3b latency than control subjects. BDI scores correlated positively with N1 latency in HIV patients and negatively with P3b amplitude in all subjects. CONCLUSIONS: These electrophysiological results suggest that, even in the absence of detectable levels of HIV in the peripheral blood, viral replication persists in the CNS and continues to cause disease in HIV patients on ART.     

Changes in muscle morphology in dialysis patients after 6 months of aerobic exercise training.

BACKGROUND: In the present study we investigated the effect of a 6-month aerobic exercise programme on the morphology of the gastrocnemius muscle of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. METHODS: Twenty-four ESRD patients volunteered to participate in the training programme and underwent muscle biopsy before training. Eighteen patients completed the training programme of whom nine agreed to a post-training biopsy (one woman and eight men, mean age 56 +/- 15 years). Data are presented for the nine subjects who were biopsied before (PRE) and after training (POST) and separately for the 15 subjects for whom we only have a biopsy before training (cross-sectional group). RESULTS: There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) in fibre type distribution or myosin heavy chain (MyHC) expression between the cross-sectional and PRE/POST groups. The mean cross-section fibre area after training (POST) increased by 46% compared with the PRE training status (P < 0.01). The proportion of atrophic fibres decreased significantly after training in type I, IIa and IIx fibre populations (from 51 to 15%, 58 to 21% and 62 to 32%, respectively). Significant differences were also found in capillary contact per fibre (CC/F), with the muscle having 24% (P < 0.05) more CC/F compared with the PRE training status. No significant differences in cytochrome c oxidase concentration were found between the groups. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, exercise appeared to be beneficial in renal rehabilitation by correcting the fibre atrophy, increasing the cross-section fibre area and improving the capillarization in the skeletal muscle of renal failure patients.     

Trusting patients, trusting nurses

Abstract  The general expectation that patients should be willing to trust nurses is rarely explored or challenged despite claims of diminishing public trust in social and professional institutions. Everyday meanings of trust take account of circumstance and suggest that our understanding of what it means to trust is contextually bound. However, in the context of health care, to trust implies a particular understanding which becomes apparent when abuses of this trust are reported and acknowledged as scandals. The predominant assumption in the literature that trust is something that occurs between equally competent adults cannot explain trust in nursing precisely because of the unequal power relationships between patients on the one hand and healthcare professionals on the other. Moreover, the tendency to conflate terms such as trust, reliance, confidence and so on suggests that confusion permeates discussions of trust in nursing. In this paper, I argue in support of Annette Baier's requirement of good will (or lack of ill will) as the essential feature of trust, and outline how this account (i) enables us to make the necessary distinctions between trust on the one hand and 'trust pretenders' on the other; and (ii) lays the foundations for understanding trust in relationships, such as those between patients and nurses, where power differentials exist.