The outbreak and the quick expansion of SARS-CoV-2, from December 2019 to today, has forced countries around the world to resolve virus containment measures in order to slow down the contagion curve. ...Between these measures, the situation of lockdown, and the isolation or limitation of social contact between the citizens, there has been an unknown psychological impact. Certain groups (the elderly, children and teenagers, and the clinical population, for instance) arouse serious fears among professionals due to their greater vulnerability and ignorance regarding the short- and long-term consequences. The main purposes of this work are first of all to evaluate the consequences of the lockdown in children and teenagers diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), sleep-related problems, and problems with executive functions. Secondly, we aim to compare the effects produced with respect to the previously mentioned variables with normotypic subjects; that is to say, between a group that was subject to lockdown and another group that was not confined. The findings show that the clinic confined group had high levels of state anxiety and problems with sleep and executive functions; differences could also be seen between the two groups, with the confined ADHD group being more negatively affected in all measured variables.
Adipose tissue dysregulation in obesity strongly influences systemic metabolic homeostasis and is often linked to insulin resistance (IR). However, the molecular mechanisms underlying adipose tissue ...dysfunction in obesity are not fully understood. Herein, a proteomic analysis of subcutaneous (SC) and omental (OM) fat from lean subjects and obese individuals with different degrees of insulin sensitivity was performed to identify adipose tissue biomarkers related to obesity‐associated metabolic disease. Our results suggest that dysregulation of both adipose tissue extracellular matrix (ECM) organization and intracellular trafficking processes may be associated with IR in obesity. Thus, abnormal accumulation of the small leucine‐rich proteoglycan, lumican, as observed in SC fat of IR obese individuals, modifies collagen I organization, impairs adipogenesis and activates stress processes endoplasmic reticulum and oxidative stress in adipocytes. In OM fat, IR is associated with increased levels of the negative regulator of the Rab family of small GTPases, GDI2, which alters lipid storage in adipocytes by inhibiting insulin‐stimulated binding of the Rab protein, Rab18, to lipid droplets. Together, these results indicate that lumican and GDI2 might play depot‐dependent, pathogenic roles in obesity‐associated IR. Our findings provide novel insights into the differential maladaptive responses of SC and OM adipose tissue linking obesity to IR.
High-fat (HF) diets trigger an increase in adipose tissue and body weight (BW) and disordered eating behavior. Our study deals with the hypothesis that circadian distribution of energy intake is more ...relevant for BW dynamics than diet composition. Four-week-old mice were exposed for 8 wk to a HF diet and compared with animals receiving control chow. HF mice progressively increased BW, decreased the amount of nocturnal (1800–0900 h) calories (energy or food intake) (30%) and increased diurnal (0900–1800 h) caloric intake (energy or food intake), although total daily intake was identical between groups. Animals were killed at 3-h intervals and plasma insulin, leptin, corticosterone, glucose, and fatty acid levels quantified. Adipose tissue was weighed, and enzymatic activities integral to the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) assayed in lumbar adipose tissue. Phosphorylated AMP-dependent protein kinase and fatty acid synthase were quantified by Western blotting. In HF mice, there was a shift in the circadian oscillations of plasma parameters together with an inhibition of PPP activity and a decrease in phosphorylated AMP-dependent protein kinase and fatty acid synthase. In a second experiment, HF mice were forced to adhere to a circadian pattern of food intake similar to that in control animals. In this case, BW, adipose tissue, morning plasma parameters and PPP activity appeared to be normal. These data indicate that disordered feeding behavior can trigger BW gain independently of food composition and daily energy intake. Because PPP is the main source of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, we suggest that PPP inhibition might be an early marker of adipose dysfunction in diet-induced obesity.
We aimed to evaluate the association between adipose tissue (AT) dysfunction, autoimmunity, and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). A cross-sectional study including 150 RA patients and 50 ...healthy donors and longitudinal study with 122 RA patients treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, anti-interleukin 6 receptor (IL6R) or anti-CD20 therapies for 6 months were carried out. In vitro experiments with human AT and adipocyte and macrophage cell lines were performed. A collagen-induced arthritis mouse model was developed. The insulin resistance and the altered adipocytokine profile were associated with disease activity, the presence of anti-citrullinated proteins anti-bodies (ACPAs), and worse response to therapy in RA. AT in the context of arthritis is characterized by an inflammatory state alongside the infiltration of macrophages and B/plasmatic cells, where ACPAs can have a direct impact, inducing inflammation and insulin resistance in macrophages and promoting a defective adipocyte differentiation, partially restored by biologicals.
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•IR is related to disease activity, inflammation, and autoimmunity in RA patients•IR state and adipocytokines might be associated with a worse response to biologics•Visfatin could be used as a potential biomarker of subclinical atherosclerosis•ACPAs might directly impact adipose tissue
Health sciences; Rheumatology; Immunology.
The evidence for the benefits of physical activity on cognitive functioning has increased in recent years. Although the relationship between these variables has been analyzed for decades, the ...development of evaluation techniques has resolved several issues and advanced this area of knowledge. Moreover, several authors have pointed out the association between the cognitive functioning of athletes and their performance in competition. These recent studies suggest that some specific cognitive abilities of athletes could help them become more effective and improve their chances of success. The objective of this paper was to identify the most relevant advances in these areas of study and to highlight more promising lines of research for the next few years. We have discussed findings from the application of different physical activity programs as well as the most significant cognitive performance variables for sports practice. The limitations of the findings were also discussed.
Falls are among the most common and serious adverse events for hospitalised patients. In-hospital falls pose a major medical and economic challenge for public health worldwide. Nevertheless, the ...issue is often addressed without regard to certain relevant variables such as the time of the fall. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the implementation of a nurse-led intervention based on the temporal patterns of falls and their aetiology on the occurrence of falls.
A mixed-method research design was carried out in three phases: a) a longitudinal prospective study (audits, chronobiological analyses and implementation of a multicentre nurse-led intervention based on temporal patterns of falls); b) a retrospective study of fall records; and c) a qualitative study based on focus groups. The protocol was published in 2021.
A difference was observed in the number of fall records before and after the chronopreventive intervention (retrospective: 64.4% vs. 35.6%; p < 0,001). According to the interrupted series analysis, considering the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, a reduction in falls of 2.96% (95% CI 1.70%-4.17%) was observed. The concepts of falls, the COVID-19 pandemic and the causes of non-registration have emerged as categories for qualitative analysis.
A multicentric nurse-led program based on tailored organisational, educational and behavioural chronopreventive measures seems to lead to a reduction in the number of in-hospital falls. The findings of the present study, highlighting the implementation of chronopreventive measures, can serve as a basis for future health policies.
The project was registered on the Clinical Trials Registry NCT04367298 (29/04/2020).
The objective of this paper was to evaluate the relationship between physical exercise and physical fitness with cognitive and psychosocial functioning in a group of adolescents. 167 teenagers ...between 14 and 15 years old (
= 14.53;
= 0.50) from the city of Malaga (Spain) participated in the study. This research used a comparative and predictive type of design. The Tanita
Body Composition Monitor BC-601, some Eurofit battery tests, the D2 Attention Test, the WISC-IV Scale Symbols and Keys tests, the Form 5 Self-Concept Questionnaire (AF5), the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) and the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) were used to evaluate the study variables. The results found in this research pointed to a positive relationship between physical exercise and physical fitness with cognitive and psychosocial functioning in the adolescents analyzed. For example, adolescents who practiced more physical exercise had better scores on variables such as selective attention (
< 0.001;
= 0.10), processing speed (
< 0.001;
= 0.09) or general self-efficacy (
< 0.001;
= 0.15). In addition, cardiorespiratory fitness was the best predictor of test scores to assess cognitive ability and psychosocial variables. These findings suggest the need to promote physical exercise among young people because of its implications for various facets of their health and development.
To determine the perception of Spanish dentists about the situation of the profession nowadays and how the changes occurred in dental workforce (in number and gender of the past twenty years) have ...affected their personal and professional lives, under a gender-based approach.
An online survey comprising of 51 opinion and socio-economic questions, divided into 9 sections of different topics, which was administered between the members of 13 professional associations. Chi-squared tests were calculated (
<0.05).
Valid responses were received from 422 participants with a mean age of 41 years old and 66% of female dentists. Most dentists considered their selves in a "good" position, however, 72.3% of them said the profession "has had worsened". Opinions significantly differed between women and men in gender equity and the pay gap between them could be observed (29.4% of males earned more of 4000 euros a month, while only 15.1% female dentists did). Also, 49.5% of female dentists felt underrepresented in the highest association of Spanish dentists (General Council of Dentist - Consejo General de Dentistas) and 38.4% declared they have had suffered verbal violence coming from patients repeatedly.
A generally negative perception of dentists' work quality was found among respondents. Also, opinions between males and females differed in important aspects of professional development. Further research projects are needed to have growing evidence on problems and disparities in the dental workforce which would help the institutions to make improvement actions.
Dentists, Health Workforce, Survey, Gender, Spain.
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