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The aim of this meta-analysis was to derive normal reference values of biventricular size and function estimated by cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in competitive athletes. Exercise-induced enlargement of cardiac chambers is commonly observed in competitive athletes. However, ventricular dilatation is also a common phenotypic expression of life-threatening cardiomyopathies. The use of CMR for the exclusion of pathology is growing. However, normal reference values have not been established for athletes. The authors conducted a systematic review of English-language studies in the MEDLINE, Scopus, and Cochrane databases investigating biventricular size and function by CMR in athletes. Athletes were divided into endurance, combined, and mixed groups according to the sport practiced. The potential impact of training volume was also evaluated. Twenty-seven studies and 983 competitive athletes were included for CMR quantification of biventricular size and function. In this review, normal reference values are presented for biventricular size and function to be applied to male competitive athletes according to the disciplines practiced. A significant impact of training volume was demonstrated for the right ventricle: athletes practicing the largest number of training hours per week were those exhibiting the greatest degree of right ventricular remodeling. Notably, biventricular function was not significantly affected by training volume. The present meta-analysis defines the normal limits of biventricular size and function estimated by CMR in competitive athletes. The authors suggest using these normal reference values as an alternative to standard upper limits derived from the general population when interpreting CMR images in athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cortisol may fulfill all criteria for a neuromodulator. However, it is not known whether it may rapidly influence motor system activity in humans. Objective: Circulating cortisol levels were manipulated by administration of a single intravenous dose of hydrocortisone or saline solution, on separate days, to study changes in corticospinal and motor cortical excitability. Methods: Motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) to single- and paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation from the resting first dorsal interosseous muscle, and cortisol plasma levels were assessed before and after either a bolus of 20 mg of hydrocortisone or saline solution in seven healthy subjects. Results: Mean cortisol plasma level rapidly rose, peaked between 5 and 10 minutes after hydrocortisone injection, to slowly decay afterward. Mean MEP amplitude significantly increased from preinjection levels, and mean standard deviation of MEPs significantly increased between 8-12 minutes postinjection. Short-intracortical inhibition, tested during the same period, was significantly decreased. No significant changes in the above measures were observed after saline solution administration. Conclusions: Our results suggest that high circulating levels of cortisol rapidly increase corticospinal excitability and reduce gamma aminobutyric acid activity, as measured by short-intracortical inhibition, in humans. These effects, lasting about 10 minutes, were observed within 15 minutes from the pharmacological intervention. They are therefore compatible with a nongenomic mechanism. These findings are important in view of the notion that a decrease in intracortical gamma aminobutyric acid activity appears to be a prerequisite for motor learning and plastic processes in the human motor cortex. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The electrocardiographic (ECG) definition of Brugada syndrome (BS) can be challenging because benign ECG abnormalities, such as right bundle branch block (RBBB), may mimic pathological ECG characteristics of BrS. However, although myocardial delay and deformation can be quantified by advanced imaging, it has not yet been used to differentiate between BrS and RBBB. The aim of this study was to characterize the electro-mechanical behavior of the heart of patients with type-1 BrS and isolated complete RBBB in order to differentiate these conditions. In this two-center study, 66 subjects were analyzed by standard and speckle-tracking echocardiography (STE): 22 type-1 BrS, 24 isolated complete RBBB, and 20 healthy subjects. The participants were not treated by any drug potentially influencing myocardial conduction. Standard echocardiographic parameters did not differ among the groups. The greatest right ventricular (RV) mechanical dispersion was found in RBBB. Mean absolute deviations (MADs) of time-to-peak longitudinal strain calculated for each left ventricular (LV) region were greater in patients with RBBB as compared to BrS (p <.01). No differences were found between BrS and controls (p =.36). MADs in the basal segments in RBBB group were greater than MADs found in BrS group and controls (37.3 ms vs. 26.7 ms and 29.0 ms, respectively, p <.05). The greatest differences were found in the antero-septal, anterior, lateral, and infero-septal basal segments. Advanced echocardiographic techniques may help to differentiate between BrS and RBBB. Indeed, STE allows to identify an electro-mechanical conduction delay in RBBB patients that is not found in patients affected by type-1 BrS. • Standard echocardiography did not differ between RBBB and BrS. • In RBBB mechanical dispersion is greater than type1-BrS patients. • The greatest degree of dispersion is observed in LV basal segments. • Mechanical dispersion helps distinguishing between RBBB and type-1 BrS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives A polygenic model is commonly assumed for the predisposition to common cancers. With respect to lung cancer, Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) have identified three loci at 15q25, 5p15.33, and 6p21. However, the relative risks associated with alleles at these loci are low; in addition, the data are limited to smokers, and have not been quite reproducible. Materials and methods In order to investigate genetic susceptibility we have adopted an entirely novel patient selection strategy. First, we have selected for adenocarcinoma (ADCA) histology only; second, we have selected non-smokers; third we have selected patients who developed ADCA of lung before the age of 60 and who had an older unaffected sib: we have identified 31 such sib-pairs. Among them, we selected two patients with very early age at disease onset (37- and 49-years old), and having a healthy sibling available for genome comparison older than at least 7 years. Results On germline DNA samples of four subjects of two such pairs we have carried out whole exome sequencing. Truncating mutations were detected in 8 'cancer genes' in one affected, and in 5 cancer genes in the other affected subject: but none in the two healthy sibs (p=0.0026). Some of these mutant genes (such as BAG6, SPEN and WISP3) are recognized as major cancer players in lung tumors; others have been previously identified in other human cancers (JAK2, TCEB3C, NELFE, TAF1B, EBLN2), in mouse models (GON4L, NOP58, and RBMX) or in genome-wide association studies (KIAA2018, ZNF311). Conclusions This study identifies for the first time in non-smokers with lung adenocarcinoma specific sets of germline mutations that, together, may predispose to this tumor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the first detection of a novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in December 2019 in Wuhan (China), it has become crucial to assess and quantize the human humoral immune response after SARS-CoV-2 natural infection and/or vaccination. Having well standardized and reliable serological assays able to accurately measure the total IgG antibodies response as well as the neutralization dynamics, play a pivotal role for the evaluation of "second" and "third" vaccines generation and in monitoring the effect in case of reinfection in the human population caused by the original strains or new SARS-CoV-2 variants. In the present study we reported that both symptomatic convalescent and vaccinated donors showed the presence of different levels of neutralizing antibodies. In addition, vaccinated subjects presented high levels of anti-S antibodies, whereas the complete absence of anti-N antibodies, whereas convalescent patients presented high levels of both anti-S and anti-N antibodies. The evaluation of the correlation between SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing and binding antibodies in convalescent and vaccinated subjects revealed that the IgG anti-S log-values were significantly higher in the vaccinated group respect to convalescent subjects. In addition, the level of binding antibodies recognizing the S protein shows a positive linear regression when compared to neutralizing titres in both the two groups evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this experiment, the changes in excitability of motor axons produced after natural activity were measured in nine healthy subjects using 1 min of maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) of the abductor digiti minimi (ADM) by studying the relationship between stimulus intensity applied to the ulnar nerve and the size of the ADM compound muscle action potential (CMAP). On cessation of the contraction, there was a prominent right-shift of the input–output curve: the intensity required to produce a control CMAP ∼60% of maximum, generated a post-contraction response ∼25% of maximum. Similar changes occurred in the input–output curves obtained by recording the ulnar nerve volley evoked by same test stimulus for CMAP. Motor-evoked potential (MEP) and F-waves (and H-reflex in one subject) were recorded from ADM before and after 1 min of MVC. On cessation of contraction, the MEP input–output curves exhibited a significant right-shift: the stimulus required to evoke a pre-contraction maximum MEP (∼60% of maximum CMAP) generated a post-contraction response ∼65% of initial values. One minute of MVC produced similar decreases of F (∼35%)- and H (∼30%)-ADM responses. All responses recovered their control value in 15–20 min after the end of contraction. The almost identical depressive effect produced by 1 min of MVC on peripherally and centrally generated muscle responses suggests a common conditioning factor. These findings are discussed within the context of activity-induced motor axonal hyperpolarizion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A newly identified coronavirus, named SARS-CoV-2, emerged in December 2019 in Hubei Province, China, and quickly spread throughout the world; so far, it has caused more than 49.7 million cases of disease and 1,2 million deaths. The diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection is currently based on the detection of viral RNA in nasopharyngeal swabs by means of molecular-based assays, such as real-time RT-PCR. Furthermore, serological assays detecting different classes of antibodies constitute an excellent surveillance strategy for gathering information on the humoral immune response to infection and the spread of the virus through the population. In addition, it can contribute to evaluate the immunogenicity of novel future vaccines and medicines for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 disease. The aim of this study was to determine SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in human serum samples by means of different commercial and in-house ELISA kits, in order to evaluate and compare their results first with one another and then with those yielded by functional assays using wild-type virus. It is important to identify the level of SARS-CoV-2-specific IgM, IgG and IgA antibodies in order to predict human population immunity, possible cross-reactivity with other coronaviruses and to identify potentially infectious subjects. In addition, in a small sub-group of samples, a subtyping IgG ELISA has been performed. Our findings showed a notable statistical correlation between the neutralization titers and the IgG, IgM and IgA ELISA responses against the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein. Thus confirming that antibodies against this portion of the virus spike protein are highly neutralizing and that the ELISA Receptor-Binding Domain-based assay can be used as a valid surrogate for the neutralization assay in laboratories that do not have biosecurity level-3 facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]