Adult North Star Network (ANSN): Consensus Guideline For The Standard Of Care Of Adults With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

There are growing numbers of adults with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy living well into their fourth decade. These patients have complex medical needs that to date have not been addressed in the International standards of care. We sought to create a consensus based standard of care through a series of multi-disciplinary workshops with specialists from a wide range of clinical areas: Neurology, Cardiology, Respiratory Medicine, Gastroenterology, Endocrinology, Palliative Care Medicine, Rehabilitation, Renal, Anaesthetics and Clinical Psychology. Detailed reports of evidence reviewed and the consensus building process were produced following each workshop and condensed into this final document which was approved by all members of the Adult North Star Network including service users. The aim of this document is to provide a framework to improve clinical services and multi-disciplinary care for adults living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Exercise prehabilitation may lead to augmented tumor regression following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer

  Purpose: We evaluate the effect of an exercised prehabilitation programme on tumour response in rectal cancer patients following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT). Patients and Methods: Rectal cancer patients with (MRI-defined) threatened resection margins who completed standardized NACRT were prospectively studied in a post hoc, explorative analysis of two previously reported clinical trials. MRI was performed at Weeks 9 and 14 post-NACRT, with surgery at Week 15. Patients undertook a 6-week preoperative exercise-training programme. Oxygen uptake (VO2) at anaerobic threshold (AT) wasmeasured at baseline (pre-NACRT), after completion of NACRT and at week 6 (post-NACRT). Tumour related outcome variables: MRI tumour regression grading (ymrTRG) at Week 9 and 14; histopathological T-stage (ypT); and tumour regression grading (ypTRG)) were compared. Results: 35 patients (26 males) were recruited. 26 patients undertook tailored exercise-training with 9 unmatched controls. NACRT resulted in a fall in VO2 at AT -2.0 ml/kg^-1/min^-1(-1.3,-2.6), p < 0.001. Exercise was shown to reverse this effect. VO2 at AT increased between groups, (post-NACRT vs. week 6) by +1.9 ml/kg^-1/min^-1(0.6, 3.2), p = 0.007. A significantly greater ypTRG in the exercise group at the time of surgery was found (p = 0.02). Conclusion: Following completion of NACRT, exercise resulted in significant improvements in fitness and augmented pathological tumour regression.

DJ-1 protects against cell death following acute cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury

Novel therapeutic targets are required to protect the heart against cell death from acute ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). Mutations in the DJ-1 (PARK7) gene in dopaminergic neurons induce mitochondrial dysfunction and a genetic form of Parkinson's disease. Genetic ablation of DJ-1 renders the brain more susceptible to cell death following ischemia-reperfusion in a model of stroke. Although DJ-1 is present in the heart, its role there is currently unclear. We sought to investigate whether mitochondrial DJ-1 may protect the heart against cell death from acute IRI by preventing mitochondrial dysfunction. Overexpression of DJ-1 in HL-1 cardiac cells conferred the following beneficial effects: reduced cell death following simulated IRI (30.4±4.7% with DJ-1 versus 52.9±4.7% in control; n=5, P<0.05); delayed mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) opening (a critical mediator of cell death) (260±33 s with DJ-1 versus 121±12 s in control; n=6, P<0.05); and induction of mitochondrial elongation (81.3±2.5% with DJ-1 versus 62.0±2.8% in control; n=6 cells, P<0.05). These beneficial effects of DJ-1 were absent in cells expressing the non-functional DJ-1(L166P) and DJ-1(Cys106A) mutants. Adult mice devoid of DJ-1 (KO) were found to be more susceptible to cell death from in vivo IRI with larger myocardial infarct sizes (50.9±3.5% DJ-1 KO versus 41.1±2.5% in DJ-1 WT; n≥7, P<0.05) and resistant to cardioprotection by ischemic preconditioning. DJ-1 KO hearts showed increased mitochondrial fragmentation on electron microscopy, although there were no differences in calcium-induced MPTP opening, mitochondrial respiratory function or myocardial ATP levels. We demonstrate that loss of DJ-1 protects the heart from acute IRI cell death by preventing mitochondrial dysfunction. We propose that DJ-1 may represent a novel therapeutic target for cardioprotection.