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Introduction: Whole-Body Vibration (WBV) can be a therapeutic recovery strategy for patients hospitalized for COVID-19., Objectives: To evaluate the effects of a 36-session WBV protocol on the risk of falls, balance, mobility and heart rate variability (HRV)., Study Design: A randomized clinical trial., Methods: 13 patients affected by COVID-19, trained with WBV, 3×/week on alternate days, totaling 36 sessions, were evaluated before and after the intervention., Results: WBV training at 2 mm and 4 mm amplitude resulted in a reduction in the risk of falls when compared to Sham (p = 0.023), with effect size of 0.530. No changes were observed for mobility and balance outcomes (p = 0.127) or for any of the HRV variables (p = 0.386)., Conclusion: WBV training reduced the risk of falls in post-COVID patients. No changes were observed regarding balance and mobility, nor for HRV., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest All the authors declare there is not a conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We would like to inform that the authors of the manuscript entitled “Effects of whole-body vibration exercise on functional capacity, muscle strength and thickness, and quality of life of post-COVID-19 patients: Case report” have no conflict of interest and all the authors assume the responsibility for this paper.

In this study, we investigated the action of varespladib (VPL) alone or in combination with a coral snake antivenom (CAV) on the local and systemic effects induced by Micrurus corallinus venom in rats. Adult male Wistar rats were exposed to venom (1.5 mg/kg - i.m.) and immediately treated with CAV (antivenom:venom ratio 1:1.5 'v/w' - i.p.), VPL (0.5 mg/kg - i.p.), or both of these treatments. The animals were monitored for 120 min and then anesthetized to collect blood samples used for haematological and serum biochemical analysis; after euthanasia, skeletal muscle, renal and hepatic tissue samples were collected for histopathological analysis. M. corallinus venom caused local oedema without subcutaneous haemorrhage or apparent necrosis formation, although there was accentuated muscle morphological damage; none of the treatments prevented oedema formation but the combination of CAV and VPL reduced venom-induced myonecrosis. Venom caused neuromuscular paralysis and respiratory impairment in approximately 60 min following envenomation; CAV alone did not prevent the neurotoxic action, whereas VPL alone prevented neurotoxic symptoms developing as did the combination of CAV and VPL. Venom induced significant increase of serum CK and AST release, mostly due to local and systemic myotoxicity, which was partially prevented by the combination of CAV and VPL. The release of hepatotoxic serum biomarkers (LDH and ALP) induced by M. corallinus venom was not prevented by CAV and VPL when individually administered; their combination effectively prevented ALP release. The venom-induced nephrotoxicity (increase in serum creatinine concentration) was prevented by all the treatments. VPL alone or in combination with CAV significantly prevented the venom-induced lymphocytosis. In conclusion, VPL shows to be effective at preventing the neurotoxic, nephrotoxic, and inflammatory activities of M. corallinus venom. In addition, VPL acts synergistically with antivenom to prevent a number of systemic effects caused by M. corallinus venom., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)