TY  - JOUR
A1  - Stratos, Ioannis
A1  - Behrendt, Ann-Kathrin
A1  - Anselm, Christian
A1  - Gonzalez, Aldebarani
A1  - Mittlmeier, Thomas
A1  - Vollmar, Brigitte
T1  - Inhibition of TNF-α restores muscle force, inhibits inflammation, and reduces apoptosis of traumatized skeletal muscles
JF  - Cells
N2  - Background: Muscle injuries are common in humans and are often associated with irrecoverable damage and disability. Upon muscle injury, TNF-α signaling pathways modulate the healing process and are predominantly associated with tissue degradation. In this study we assumed that TNF-α inhibition could reduce the TNF-α-associated tissue degradation after muscle injury. Materials and methods: Therefore, the left soleus muscle of 42 male Wistar rats was injured using a standardized open muscle injury model. All rats were treated immediately after injury either with infliximab (single i.p. injection; 10 mg/kg b.w.) or saline solution i.p. Final measurements were conducted at day one, four, and 14 post injury. The muscle force, the muscle cell proliferation, the muscle cell coverage as well as the myofiber diameter served as read out parameters of our experiment. Results: Systemic application of infliximab could significantly reduce the TNF-α levels in the injured muscle at day four upon trauma compared to saline treated animals. The ratio of muscle weight to body weight was increased and the twitch muscle force showed a significant rise 14 days after trauma and TNF-α inhibition. Quantification of myofiber diameter in the penumbra zone showed a significant difference between both groups at day one and four after injury, indicated by muscle hypertrophy in the infliximab group. Planimetric analysis of the injured muscle at day 14 revealed increased muscle tissue fraction in the infliximab group compared to the control animals. Muscle cell proliferation did not differ between both groups. Conclusions: These data provide evidence that the TNF-α blockade positively regulates the restauration of skeletal muscles upon injury.
KW  - muscle injury
KW  - regeneration
KW  - infliximab
KW  - tumor necrosis factor alpha
Y1  - 2022
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-286094
SN  - 2073-4409
VL  - 11
IS  - 15
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Vollmuth, Christoph
A1  - Muljukov, Olga
A1  - Abu-Mugheisib, Mazen
A1  - Angermeier, Anselm
A1  - Barlinn, Jessica
A1  - Busetto, Loraine
A1  - Grau, Armin J.
A1  - Günther, Albrecht
A1  - Gumbinger, Christoph
A1  - Hubert, Nikolai
A1  - Hüttemann, Katrin
A1  - Klingner, Carsten
A1  - Naumann, Markus
A1  - Palm, Frederick
A1  - Remi, Jan
A1  - Rücker, Viktoria
A1  - Schessl, Joachim
A1  - Schlachetzki, Felix
A1  - Schuppner, Ramona
A1  - Schwab, Stefan
A1  - Schwartz, Andreas
A1  - Trommer, Adrian
A1  - Urbanek, Christian
A1  - Volbers, Bastian
A1  - Weber, Joachim
A1  - Wojciechowski, Claudia
A1  - Worthmann, Hans
A1  - Zickler, Philipp
A1  - Heuschmann, Peter U.
A1  - Haeusler, Karl Georg
A1  - Hubert, Gordian Jan
T1  - Impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on stroke teleconsultations in Germany in the first half of 2020
JF  - European Journal of Neurology
N2  - Background and purpose
The effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on telemedical care have not been described on a national level. Thus, we investigated the medical stroke treatment situation before, during, and after the first lockdown in Germany.

Methods
In this nationwide, multicenter study, data from 14 telemedical networks including 31 network centers and 155 spoke hospitals covering large parts of Germany were analyzed regarding patients' characteristics, stroke type/severity, and acute stroke treatment. A survey focusing on potential shortcomings of in-hospital and (telemedical) stroke care during the pandemic was conducted.

Results
Between January 2018 and June 2020, 67,033 telemedical consultations and 38,895 telemedical stroke consultations were conducted. A significant decline of telemedical (p < 0.001) and telemedical stroke consultations (p < 0.001) during the lockdown in March/April 2020 and a reciprocal increase after relaxation of COVID-19 measures in May/June 2020 were observed. Compared to 2018–2019, neither stroke patients' age (p = 0.38), gender (p = 0.44), nor severity of ischemic stroke (p = 0.32) differed in March/April 2020. Whereas the proportion of ischemic stroke patients for whom endovascular treatment (14.3% vs. 14.6%; p = 0.85) was recommended remained stable, there was a nonsignificant trend toward a lower proportion of recommendation of intravenous thrombolysis during the lockdown (19.0% vs. 22.1%; p = 0.052). Despite the majority of participating network centers treating patients with COVID-19, there were no relevant shortcomings reported regarding in-hospital stroke treatment or telemedical stroke care.

Conclusions
Telemedical stroke care in Germany was able to provide full service despite the COVID-19 pandemic, but telemedical consultations declined abruptly during the lockdown period and normalized after relaxation of COVID-19 measures in Germany.
KW  - COVID-19
KW  - SARS-CoV- 2
KW  - stroke
KW  - telemedicine
KW  - survey
Y1  - 2021
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-259396
VL  - 28
IS  - 10
ER  -