Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases in Systemic Sclerosis: Potential Pathogenic Players and Therapeutic Targets

The application of artificial gravity in medicine and space

Gravity plays a crucial role in physiology. The lack of gravity, like in long duration spaceflight missions, cause pathologies in e.g., the musculoskeletal system, cardiovascular deconditioning, immune system deprivation or brain abnormalities, to just mention a few. The application of artificial gravity through short-arm human centrifugation (SAHC) has been studied as a possible countermeasure to treat spaceflight deconditioning. However, hypergravity protocols applied by using SAHC have also been used to treat different, ground-based pathologies. Such gravitational therapies have been applied in Uruguay for more than four decades now. The aim of this overview is to summarize the most important findings about the effects of gravitational therapy in different, mainly vascular based pathologies according to the experience in the Gravitational Therapy Center and to discuss the current research in the field of hypergravity applications in medicine but also as multisystem countermeasure for near weightlessness pathologies. New insight is needed on the use of hypergravity in medicine and space research and application.

Cardiac Involvement in Systemic Sclerosis: Diagnostic Tools and Evaluation Methods

The heart is one of the major organs commonly involved in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Myocardial fibrosis has been identified in a high percentage of these patients. Most SSc patients with cardiac involvement (CI) are subclinical, especially early on in the course of their disease. To accurately identify CI and improve diagnosis and treatment, imaging techniques should be implemented on a regular basis following diagnosis. In this review, we discuss the up-to-date pathophysiologic basis of CI, the cardiac manifestations, and the diagnostic methods that have been published in the literature. Recent studies have shown that tissue Doppler imaging is a promising evaluation technique in the bedside detection of CI. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance is an operator-independent method used for detecting SSc CI. It is an especially useful tool in the early stages of the disease when patients may be asymptomatic. At present, it is the most promising imaging technique for the diagnosis, follow-up, and response to therapy in clinical practice.