State of art of mobility medicine: some more abstracts and evidence that the success of Pdm3 is based on extra-session relationships

Abstract

Scientific conferences increasingly suffer from the need for short presentations in which speakers like to dwell on the details of their work. A mitigating factor is to encourage discussion and planning of collaborations by organizing small meetings in a hotel large enough to host all attendees. This extends discussions' opportunities during morning breakfasts, lunches, dinners and long evenings together. Even if the vast majority of participants will not stay for the entire duration of the Conference, the possibilities for specialists to interact with specialists who are even very distant in terms of knowledge increase enormously. In any case, the results in terms of new job opportunities for young participants outweigh the costs for the organizers. Thirty years of Padova Muscle Days offer many examples, but the authors of this report on the state of the art of Mobility Medicine testify that this also happened in the 2024 Five Days of Muscle and Mobility Medicine (2024Pdm3) hosted at the Hotel Petrarca, Thermae of Euganea Hills and Padua, Italy which is in fact a valid countermeasure to the inevitable tendencies towards hyperspecialization that the explosive increase in scientific progress brings with it.

Ethical Publication Statement

We confirm that we have read the Journal’s position on issues involved in ethical publication and affirm that this report is consistent with those guidelines.

The Padua Muscle Days (PMDs), an international meeting on biology, anathomy, physiology, managements and rehabilitation of striated muscles, started in 1985 as the First Abano Terme Meeting on Rehabilitation (Padua, Italy), especially to provide advice on Translational Myology. Always the interest was on implementing basic research and clinical trials to prevent, manage and rehabilitate persons suffering from mobility disorders, which may be secondary, in addition to neuromuscular disorders, to diseases of the heart, lungs, liver, metabolism, endocrine tissues, life style and aging. During the 2023 Padua Days on Muscle and Mobility Medicine (Pdm3, the new nickname of the series) and then in summer and autumn of 2023 the 2024Pdm3 was planned to be held from February 27 to March 2, 2023, that is for five days, because 2024 include February 29. The success of the registrations and the maintenance of the traditional plan of oral presentations only (in person - the vast majority - or via Zoom), forced the organizers to extend the program to five days and to add parallel sessions. The five days included oral presentations of senior and junior scientists and clinicians from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Switzerland, UK, and USA. The almost full Collection of Abstracts (accepted up to January 31, 2024) is e-published in this Issue 34(1) 2024 of the European Journal of Translational Myology (EJTM).1

2022 ESCI Clarivate's Impact Factor 2.2. Five-year I.F. 2.1

Here a few Abstracts are reported that were accepted just before or even during the 2024Pdm3.

This Report is indeed dedicated to the examples of collaborations planned during the five days of the meeting and confirmed todate. Among the good examples are planned new sessions for the 2025Pdm3, e,g., the Sessions on emi-fasting approaches that will be organized by Stefen Anton and Ugo Carraro and the Session on physiology, physiopathology and therapy of Extreme Environments by Tiziana Pietrangelo and Gerardo Bosco. Preliminary results of a new collaboration among Padua, Rome, Genova and Palermo designed during discussions in Hotel Petrarca among Maria Chiara Maccarone, Giuseppe Messina and Ugo Carraro will be also reported during a “Practical Activities Session” in the next 2025Pdm3 on Home-Based Full-Body In-Bed Gym chaired by Maria Chiara and Giuseppe. Preliminary discussion on integrating efforts on Functional Electrical Stimulation by Marie Sophie Alberty, Ines Bersch, Ashraf S. Gorgey and Winfried Mayr for FES Of DDM will be hopefully supported also by Myriam Loyo, Michelle Cameron, Antonio Di Pietro, Johannes Krauss, Gerd Volk for electrical stimulation of facial muscles. If so, the Session on FES for denervated muscles will open the 2025Pdm3.

Supported by Paolo Gargiulo, Daniele Coraci, Riccardo Forni, Marco Quadrelli with his Colleagues of SynLab and Ugo Carraro discussed and agreed on a collaborative program Padova (Italy) and Reykjavk (Iceland) on Digital Health and Muscle Imaging in Mobility Medicine. That also will be one of the key Sessions of the 2025Pdm3.

Elena Barbieri of Urbino University (Italy), Daniela Tavian of Milan University (Italy) and Paulo Gentil of the Federal University of Goias (Brasil) promised to support the long-term dream of Ugo Carraro to developing saliva tests for physical medicine and rehabilitation programs.

Finally, Philippe Perrin of the University of Nancy (France) is willing to support the efforts to find strong scientific evidence of the undisputable effects of the thermal waters and of the traditional warm muds of the Euganean Hills Thermae. This will be a joint program with the related 2025Pdm3 Session of FEMTEC, the World Hydrotherapy Federation, co-chaired by Philippe Perrin, Lucrezia Tognolo and Stefano Masiero.

Ugo Carraro, 2024 and 2025Pdm3 Local organizer in name of all Authors

Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy; Interdepartmental Research Centre of Myology, University of Padova, Italy; Armando & Carmela Mioni-Carraro Foundation for Translational Myology, Padua, Italy

*****

The Padua Days on Muscle and Mobility have been extended to five days in 2024, which have been filled with interesting talks ranging from highlights on the physiological processes at a cellular level to sharing clinical experiences within treating people with muscle-related diseases. The between-session discussions and networking that have resulted from the scientific talks are deemed highly beneficial for the development of new ideas, but they are also stimulating to have a more holistic approach in our daily professional activities. Engaging in the event with a talk oneself facilitates the exchange with other like-minded (or not like-minded) people since it increases visibility and helps to display personal expertise and opinions about specific topics. Hence, hearing about the role of satellite cells in muscular dystrophy resulted in a discussion about the usability of and the consequences for training with electrical stimulation (ES) via nerve or muscle (long pulse stimulation) in this population. Furthermore, sharing experiences involving ES stimulated discussions about the implementation of proprioceptive sensory rather than ES above motor threshold to enhance functions in people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Contributions about denervated muscle made the question arise about whether a fully denervated muscle can be validly guaranteed, especially in those with an incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) where stimulation intensity cannot be increased due to sensation integrity. A complete denervation of the muscles of the lower extremity is more likely to be guaranteed in people with spina bifida and sensorimotor complete SCI with a neurological level of injury below L1 and a conus cauda lesion. In the former case, the underlying cause is the structural damage of spinal nerves since birth. An additional positive aspect of the meeting was the networking fostering in-person exchange about previous work performed by the researchers in the field. One-to-one communication is often more straightforward and brings fast results, contributing to a faster development and implementation of expertise in this domain. Looking back at the congress, one can state that a lot of knowledge regarding muscle physiology has been won, leading to discussions about their translation into clinics while carefully selecting an appropriate study design when conducting the necessary investigations.

Marie Sophie Alberty, Ines Bersch

International FES Centre®, Swiss Paraplegic Centre Nottwil, Switzerland

*****

The 2024 Padua Five Days on Muscle and Mobility Medicine provided a unique opportunity to present the latest advances in clinical translation research related to applications of electrical stimulation in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). One of the interesting applications is the capacity to stimulate denervated muscles in SCI persons with caudua equina syndrome or lower motor neuron injury. This is an extension to the RISE project that previously suggested the use of long pulse width stimulation (LPWS; 120-150 ms) to exercise the denervated muscles. Gorgey et al. proposed the use of LPWS with testosterone treatment to reciprocate the determinantal changes in muscle size and composition in this population with SCI. However, the study protocol was limited to only twice weekly using a lab-based approach to train the denervated muscles for 12 months. The training program results in modest changes in muscle size with difficulty in recruiting and retaining reasonable sample to complete the program (n=5). Based on these limitations, the study team proposed a study to address the above limitations via using a telehealth home-based approach to train the denervated muscles 4x weekly for 9 months to increase sample size and to retain participants over the course of the study. The proposed study has yet to be executed upon funding and regulatory approvals.

Ashraf S. Gorgey

Spinal Cord Injury and Disorders Center, Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center, Richmond, Virginia, USA; School of Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA

*****

Attending the 2024 Padua Five Days on Muscle & Mobility Medicine (2024Pdm3) was an enriching experience that offered a unique mix of scientific knowledge and personal connections. Following the presentations by various eminent professionals, several researchers with shared interests reached out, eager to delve deeper into the topics discussed. Moreover, presentations by PhD students also generated significant discussions, which continued in the corridors of the conference. Professors in both pre-clinical and clinical fields shared their experiences with young PhD students, noting many points of convergence. These encounters often extended beyond the confines of the conference rooms, spilling over into informal discussions during lunch and dinner. Over plates of authentic Italian cuisine, ideas were brainstormed, perspectives were exchanged, and potential avenues for collaboration were explored. These unplanned meetings not only deepened understanding of the topics but also forged new connections with researchers from diverse backgrounds. As experiences were shared, it became clear that expertise could be utilized to address complex research questions and drive innovation in respective fields. This discussion sparked a desire to collaborate, establishing bridges between universities geographically distant through potential shared research projects. Some young researchers even received intriguing job offers, both national and international, aiding in their academic career progression. These interactions underscored the invaluable role of the 2024Pdm3 not just as a platform for knowledge dissemination but also as an incubator for interdisciplinary collaboration. By fostering a culture of open dialogue and networking, events like the Padua Muscle Days could serve as fertile ground for cultivating partnerships that go beyond geographical boundaries. Such collaborative moments are essential in an era marked by rapid scientific advancement. By centralizing meetings in one location, encouraging shared accommodations, and extending the duration of events, organizers can create an environment favorable to collaboration and advancement in research.

Maria Chiara Maccarone, Daniele Coraci, Lucrezia Tognolo, Stefano Masiero

Department of Neuroscience, Rehabilitation Unit, University of Padova, Italy

*****

All together we reassure the traditional Key Organizers of Pdm3 Sessions, in particular H. Lee Sweeney, Christiaan Leewenburgh, Piera Smeriglio, Massimo Ganassi, Marco Narici and Riccardo Rosati that there will be always room for their sessions in the Programs of the Padua Days on Muscle and Mobility Medicine starting from the one of 2025.

In any case we are sure that the 2025Pdm3 will be even more successful than the recent successful events.1-8

List of acronyms

EJTM

European Journal of Translational Myology

Pdm3

Padua Days on Muscle and Mobility Medicine

PMD

Padua Muscle Days

Funding Statement

Funding: The 2024Pdm3 are supported by the University of Florida Myology Institute and Wellstone Center, Gainesville, FL, USA. E-publishing of this typescript was supported by the A& C M-C Foundation for Translational Myology, Galleria Duomo 5, 35141 Padua, Italy.