Immune response after photodynamic therapy increases anti-cancer and anti-bacterial effects

Photodynamic therapy(PDT) is a clinically approved procedure for treatment of cancer and infections. PDT involves systemic or topical administration of a photosensitizer(PS), followed by irradiation of the diseased area with light of a wavelength corresponding to an absorbance band of the PS. In the presence of oxygen, a photochemical reaction is initiated, leading to the generation of reactive oxygen species and cell death. Besides causing direct cytotoxic effects on illuminated tumor cells, PDT is known to cause damage to the tumor vasculature and induce the release of pro-inflammatory molecules. Pre-clinical and clinical studies have demonstrated that PDT is capable of affecting both the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system. Immune stimulatory properties of PDT may increase its beneficial effects giving the therapy wider potential to become more extensively used in clinical practice. Be-sides stimulating tumor-specific cytotoxic T-cells capable to destroy distant untreated tumor cells, PDT leads to development of anti-tumor memory immunity that can potentially prevent the recurrence of cancer. The immunological effects of PDT make the therapy more effective also when used for treatment of bacterial infections, due to an augmented infiltration of neutrophils into the infected regions that seems to potentiate the outcome of the treatment.

Acute Effect of High-Intensity Climbing on Performance and Muscle Oxygenation in Elite Climbers

High-intensity training(HIT)is known to have deteriorating effects on performance which manifest in various physiological changes such as lowered force production and oxidative capacity.However,the effect of HIT in climbing on finger flexor performance has not been investigated yet.Twenty-one climbers partook in an intervention study with three assessment time points:pre-HIT,post-HIT,and 24-h post-HIT.The HIT involved four five-minute exhaustive climbing tasks.Eight climbers were assigned to a control group.Assessments consisted of three finger flexor tests:maximum voluntary contraction(MVC),sustained contraction(SCT),and intermittent contraction tests(ICT).During the SCT muscle oxygenation(SmO_(2))metrics were collected via NIRS sensors on the forearm.The HIT had significant deteriorating effects on all force production metrics(MVC−18%,SCT−55%,ICT−59%).Post-24 h showed significant recovery,which was less pronounced for the endurance tests(MVC−3%,SCT−16%,ICT−22%).SmO_(2)metrics provided similar results for the SCT with medium to large effect sizes.Minimally attainable SmO_(2)and resting SmO_(2)both showed moderate negative correlations with pre-HIT force production respectively;r=−0.41,P=0.102;r=−0.361,P=0.154.A strong association was found between a loss of force production and change in minimally attainable SmO_(2)(r=−0.734,P=0.016).This study presents novel findings on the deteriorating effects of HIT on finger flexor performance and their oxidative capacity.Specifically,the divergent results between strength and endurance tests should be of interest to coaches and athletes when assessing athlete readiness.