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Purpose: Hypertension is one of the major risk factors for renal failure and cardiovascular diseases, and is caused by various abnormalities including the contractility of blood vessels. Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats, which mimic human type 2 diabetes, are frequently used to study obesity-induced insulin resistance (IR) and hypertension. Human omentin-1 is one of the recently identified adipocytokines. We previously demonstrated that human omentin-1 not only caused vasodilation in rat isolated blood vessels, but also prevented inflammatory responses, a possible mechanism relating IR, in human vascular endothelial cells. Taken together, we hypothesized that human omentin-1 may reduce obesity-induced IR and hypertension in OLETF rats., Methods: OLETF rats were intraperitoneally administered with human omentin-1 for 7 days., Results: Human omentin-1 had no influence on overweight, hyperglycemia, urinary glucose extraction, hyperinsulinemia, and systemic IR in OLETF rats. Human omentin-1 decreased systolic blood pressure in OLETF rats. The measurement of isometric contraction revealed that human omentin-1 had no influence on the agonist-induced contractile and relaxant responses in isolated thoracic aorta from OLETF rats. However, the relaxant response mediated by human insulin was converted into the contractile response in thoracic aorta from OLETF rats, which was prevented by human omentin-1. The Western blotting revealed that human omentin-1 improved the decrease in endothelial nitric oxide synthase activation in isolated thoracic aorta from OLETF rats., Conclusion: In summary, we for the first time revealed that human omentin-1 partly reduces vascular IR and thereby inhibits hypertension in OLETF rats., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulator riociguat is a relatively novel therapeutic agent for pulmonary hypertension (PH) in human medicine. Riociguat induces endothelium-independent pulmonary artery (PA) relaxation by directly activating the sGC-cyclic guanosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cGMP) pathway in muscle cells. Although riociguat may be effective in the treatment of dogs with refractory PH, basic studies on its clinical application in veterinary medicine are lacking. The present study aimed to explore the effects of riociguat on the contractility of an isolated canine PA and the hemodynamics of dogs with acute PH. In an isolated endothelium-denuded canine PA, the effects of riociguat on endothelin (ET)-1-induced contraction and cGMP levels were investigated using the Magnus method and ELISA, respectively. The effect of riociguat on the hemodynamics of the thromboxane A2 analog U46619-induced PH model dog was examined by invasive catheterization. Riociguat increased cGMP levels and reduced ET-1-induced contraction of the isolated PA. Riociguat inhibited the U46619-induced elevation of PA pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance and increased cardiac output, but it had no effect on basal systemic blood pressure. These results demonstrate for the first time that riociguat can inhibit the elevation of PA pressure through PA relaxation via an endothelium-independent increase in cGMP in dogs with PH.

Hypertension is one of the major risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and is caused by various abnormalities including the contractility of blood vessels. Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), whose systemic blood pressure increases with aging, are a frequently used animal model for investigating essential hypertension and related complications in humans due to the damage of several organs. Human omentin-1 is an adipocytokine consisting of 313 amino acids. Serum omentin-1 levels decreased in hypertensive patients compared with normotensive controls. Furthermore, omentin-1 knockout mice showed elevated blood pressure and impaired endothelial vasodilation. Taken together, we hypothesized that adipocytokine, human omentin-1 may improve the hypertension and its complications including heart and renal failure in the aged SHR (65-68-weeks-old). SHR were subcutaneously administered with human omentin-1 (18 μg/kg/day, 2 weeks). Human omentin-1 had no effect on body weight, heart rate, and systolic blood pressure in SHR. The measurement of isometric contraction revealed that human omentin-1 had no influence on the enhanced vasocontractile or impaired vasodilator responses in the isolated thoracic aorta from SHR. On the other hand, human omentin-1 tended to improve left ventricular diastolic failure and renal failure in SHR. In summary, human omentin-1 tended to improve hypertensive complications (heart and renal failure), while it had no influence on the severe hypertension in the aged SHR. The further study of human omentin-1 may lead to the development of therapeutic agents for hypertensive complications.

[Purpose] This study evaluated subjective posture recognition by physiotherapists with expertise in posture, examined the quantification of posture using a three-dimensional (3D) motion capture, and described posture-based characteristics. [Participants and Methods] We photographed good, normal, and bad postures in 12 participants using an infrared camera, and the resultant data were analyzed. [Results] We observed the largest displacement from a good to a bad posture in the tenth thoracic vertebra on the X-axis in the anterior-posterior direction in comparison with other index points. Further, we observed considerable differences between good and bad postures compared with other index points. Moreover, we noted significant differences between the amount of displacement between good to a normal posture and from a good to a bad posture. The vertical displacement of the Z-axis was smaller than other index points. [Conclusion] Th10 captured features from the three postures. The X-axis was displaced most between good and bad postures. Further, the amount of displacement on the Z-axis was less between good and bad posture, rendering it difficult to capture features. Therefore, the findings reported herein can be used to compare the front and rear directions of the X-axis for capturing postural changes., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest to be disclosed by the first author and coauthors regarding this paper., (2020©by the Society of Physical Therapy Science. Published by IPEC Inc.)

Pelvic floor muscle exercises for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence were reported 45 years ago. However, few studies have been made on the long-term outcome and clinical effects in elderly people. We put 123 incontinent women on an intensive exercise programme for 8 weeks and followed them for more than 12 months; 15 patients were over 65 years old and 108 under 65 years old. Self-reported success rates, i.e., cure or a reduction of > 50% of the original severity, were prospectively assessed in the 2 groups immediately and a mean of 28 months (12-52) after the training. Predictive parameters for an immediate and a long-term success were assessed. The intensive programme depended on patients being motivated, patient education, correct muscle contractions, and the keeping of treatment diaries for 8 weeks. Urine loss evaluated objectively and bothersome scores in 6 activities assessed subjectively improved only in the younger adult group. However, vaginal contractile strength increased in both groups. The immediate success rate was 20% and 40% for the elderly and the adults, respectively. Twenty eight months later, the success rate was 27% for the aged and 40% for the adults with 6 patients becoming continent by surgery. Both the short- and long-term success rates were similar in the 2 groups (p < 0.05). 95% of the patients stated that the intensive training was valuable and that they would recommend the training to friends suffering from stress incontinence. Contractile strength of the vagina can be used to predict the immediate treatment outcome, but there are no parameters for predicting the long-term success. In conclusion, the intensive programme of pelvic floor muscle exercises is an effective treatment option for not only for the young adults but also for elderly people suffering from stress incontinence.

Objective: To evaluate prospectively the short- and long-term results of treatment with vaginal cones for women with urinary stress incontinence and to assess predictive parameters., Patients and Methods: Fifty women (mean age 49 years, range 28-76) with differing severities of stress incontinence (mean parity 2.4 and mean 60-min pad-test 20.7 g) were treated with cones for 15 min twice a day for 8 weeks. Treatment results were evaluated immediately after and at a mean of 3 years after the treatment. Parameters were analysed to determine those with predictive value for a successful outcome., Results: Physiotherapy was assessed as being successful, i.e. a complete cure or a reduction of > 50% of the original severity, in seven patients (14%), while in 43 patients (86%) the treatment failed. After 3 years, 13 (30%) reported that the treatment was successful, 27 (61%) reported failure and four (9%) underwent surgery for stress incontinence. Those with lesser amounts of urinary loss and those with less frequent incontinence would be most likely to benefit from treatment with vaginal cones., Conclusion: The treatment had a low success rate and we recommend that the vaginal cones should be used only for those with a slight or moderate degree of stress incontinence.