The diagnostic reliability of Internet-based observational kinematic gait analysis

We investigated the accuracy and reliability of observational kinematic gait assessments performed via a low-bandwidth Internet link (118 kbit/s) and a higher-speed Internet link (128 kbit/s). Twenty-four subjects were randomized to either bandwidth group. Gait was assessed with the Gait Assessment Rating Scale (GARS) in the traditional manner, which is from video-recordings, and with repeated measurements via the online method. Online assessment was found to provide as accurate a measure of gait performance as the traditional assessment (limits of agreement

Arthritic disease suppression and cartilage protection with glycosaminoglycan polypeptide complexes (Peptacans) derived from the cartilage extracellular matrix: A novel approach to therapy

Molecular fragments of cartilage are antigenic and can stimulate an autoimmune response. Oral administration of type II collagen prevents disease onset in animal models of arthritis but the effects of other matrix components have not been reported. We evaluated glycosaminoglycan polypeptides (GAG-P) and matrix proteins (CaP) from cartilage for a) mitigating disease activity in rats with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) and adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA) and b) stimulating proteoglycan (PG) synthesis by chondrocytes in-vitro. CIA and AIA were established in Wistar rats using standard methods. Agents were administered orally (10–200 mg/kg), either for seven days prior to disease induction (toleragenic protocol), or continuously for 15 days after injecting the arthritigen (prophylactic protocol). Joint swelling and arthritis scores were determined on day 15. Histological sections of joint tissues were assessed post-necropsy. In chondrocyte cultures, CaP + / − interleukin-1 stimulated PG biosynthesis. CaP was also active in preventing arthritis onset at 3.3, 10 or 20 mg/kg in the rat CIA model using the toleragenic protocol. It was only active at 20 and 200 mg/kg in the CIA prophylactic protocol. GAG-P was active in the CIA toleragenic protocol at 20 mg/kg but chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine hydrochloride or glucosamine sulfate were all inactive. The efficacy of CaP in the rat AIA model was less than in the CIA model. These findings lead us to suggest that oral CaP could be used as a disease-modifying anti-arthritic drug.