Ugo Carraro

University of Padova | UNIPD · Department of Biomedical Sciences - DSB

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Dirk Pette passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on June 4, 2022. Dirk was an outstanding professor of biochemistry at the University of Konstanz, Germany and an internationally renowned researcher in the field of skeletal muscle biology. His research on electrical stimul...

Muscles and mobility deteriorate with age, and exercising is the only sure countermeasure. It is useful to offer safe and toll-free rehabilitation training, such as the Full-Body In-Bed Gym, easy to learn and perform at home. Based on my own experience, I suggest a 10-20-minute daily routine of easy and safe physical exercises that may improve the...

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 mornin...

During the 2023 Padua Days on Muscle and Mobility Medicine the 2024 meeting was scheduled from 28 February to 2 March 2024 (2024Pdm3). During autumn 2023 the program was expanded with Scientific Sessions which will take place over five days (in 2024 this includes February 29), starting from the afternoon of 27 February 2024 in the Conference Rooms...

In my research I have often found myself on the wrong side of the flow of international beliefs. I have generally been wrong and wasted my time and resources and my co-workers, but, sometimes, we have been on the right side. Such was the case with the role of apoptosis, also known as the programmed cell death, in biology and pathology of skeletal m...

At the end of the 2023 Padua Days of Muscle and Mobility Medicine the next year's meeting was scheduled from 27 February to 2 March 2024 (2024Pdm3). During the summer and autumn the program was confirmed with Scientific Sessions that will take place over five days, starting in the afternoon of February 27, 2024 at the Conference Room of the Hotel P...

Age-related muscle loss poses a significant health concern in an aging population. This study aimed to assess the impact of a home Full-Body in-Bed Gym protocol on quality of life, pain and risk of sarcopenia in elderly subjects. A total of 22 subjects with a median age of 71.90 years were included in the study. Patients participating in the Full-B...

People suffering from fatigue syndromes spend less time exercising each day, thus aggravating their motor difficulties. Indeed, muscles and mobility deteriorate with age, while exercising muscles is the only sure countermeasure. It is useful to offer a safe and toll-free rehabilitation training: Full-Body In-Bed Gym, easy to learn and performe at h...

The 2023 Padua Days of Muscle and Mobility Medicine (Pdm3) were held from March 29th to April 1st, 2023. Most of the abstracts were published electronically in the European Journal of Translational Myology (EJTM) 33 (1) 2023. Here we report the complete book of abstracts that confirms the interest of more than 150 scientists and clinicians from Aus...

The 2023 Padua Days of Muscle and Mobility Medicine (Pdm3) are scheduled from March 29th to April 1st, 2023. The abstracts collected during autumn and early winter of 2022 were e- published in the issue 33 (1) 2023 of the European Journal of Translational Myology (EJTM). Now the last-minute abstracts are reported here (100 Oral presentations are li...

The Venice Marathon (VM) has gained fame and prestige over time. It is part of a group of marathons that are recognized worldwide. The aims of this study were to describe the attractiveness of the event over the years according to the gender and age of participants, and to investigate their performances according to gender and age differences in th...

Introduction. The limitations in mobility frequently encountered by the elderly, often linked to advanced age and concurrent medical conditions, have significant implications for their overall well-being and self-reliance. This decrease in physical activity not only curtails their independence but also elevates the likelihood of prolonged hospitali...

The winter of 2022 approaches with the need to finalize our plans for next year. This is urgent for the 2023 Meeting of the Padua Days of Muscle and Mobility Medicine (Pdm3) to be held March 29th to April 1st, 2023 at the Hotel Petrarca in the Thermae of Euganean Hills (Padua), Italy. A preliminary Pdm3 Program is almost ready with sessions, organz...

The fall of 2022 approaches with the need to finalize our plans for next year. This is urgent for the 2023 Meeting of the Padua Days of Muscle and Mobility Medicine, (PDM3) to be held March 29 to April 1, 2023 at the Hotel Petrarca in the Thermae of Euganean Hills (Padua), Italy, but there are also news related to the inclusion of the European Jour...

Despite COVID-19 outbreak, the program of the 2022 Padua Days of Muscle and Mobility Medicine (PDM3) was confirmed On-site in February from March 30 to April 2, 2022 to be held at the University of Padua Aula Magna and at Conference Hall of the Hotel Petrarca of Thermae of Euganean Hills (Padua), Italy. Over 130 abstracts, including the last-minute...

In the autumn of 2021, the 2022 Padua Days of Muscle and Mobility Medicine (PDM3) was planned to be held from March 30 to April 2, 2022. Despite the fact that Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak continued to impose restrictions all over the world, the program was planned with Scientific Sessions to occur over three full days at either the University of P...

In 2013 we presented results showing that at the histological level lifelong increased physical activity promotes reinnervation of muscle fibers in aging muscles. Indeed, in muscle biopsies from 70-year old men with a lifelong history of high-level physical activity, we observed a considerable increase in fiber-type groupings (F-TG), almost exclusi...

Langerhans cells represent the first immune cells that sense the entry of external molecules and microorganisms at the epithelial level in the skin. In this pilot case-study, we evaluated Langerhans cells density and progression of epidermal atrophy in permanent spinal cord injury (SCI) patients suffering with either lower motor neuron lesions (LMN...

Paolo Gava, (Conegliano, Treviso, September 1, 1946 – Stra, Venezia, Italy, July 19, 2021) was a sustainable resources engineer, who worked in Italy, France and England, leading research programs well before the current international interest in countering global warming. Passionate about Tango, Paolo kept himself in shape for many decades by runni...

Although previous studies have highlighted the association between physical activity and lower extremity function (LEF) in elderly individuals, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain debated. Our recent work has recognized the utility of nonlinear trimodal regression analysis (NTRA) parameters in characterizing changes in soft tissue ra...

Skeletal muscle atrophy may occur with disease, injury, decreased muscle use, starvation, and normal aging. No reliably effective treatments for atrophy are available, thus research into the mechanisms contributing to muscle loss is essential. The ERG1A K+ channel contributes to muscle loss by increasing ubiquitin proteasome proteolysis (UPP) in th...

Persons suffering with systemic neuromuscular disorders or chronic organ failures, spend less time for daily physical activity, aggravating their mobility impairments. From 2020, patients at risk are also older adults, who, though negative for the SARS-Cov-2 infection, suffer with a fatigue syndrome due to home restriction/quarantine. Besides event...

Mobility-impaired persons, either very old or younger but suffering with systemic neuromuscular disorders or chronic organ failures, spend small amounts of time for daily physical activity, contributing to aggravate their poor mobility by resting muscle atrophy. Sooner or later the limitations to their mobility enforce them to bed and to more frequ...

Mobility-impaired persons, either very old or younger but suffering with systemic neuromuscular disorders or chronic organ failures, spend small amounts of time for daily physical activity, contributing to aggravate their poor mobility by resting muscle atrophy. Sooner or later the limitations to their mobility enforce them to bed and to more frequ...

The strong age dependency of many deleterious health outcomes likely reflects the cumulative effects from a variety of risk and protective factors that occur over one's life course. This notion has become increasingly explored in the etiology of chronic disease and associated comorbidities in aging. Our recent work has shown the robust classificati...

Asymmetry of the multifidi has been correlated with scoliosis and back pain in humans and has been investigated as a factor in equine back pain as well. The purpose of this study was to determine if FES would affect the symmetry of equine thoracolumbar multifidi when compared to controls. Twelve horses received 24 FES treatments bilaterally over th...

This paper describes the interconnections and predictive value between Body Mass Index (BMI), Isometric Leg Strength (ISO) and soft tissue distribution from mid-thigh Computed Tomography (CT) scans using Machine Learning (ML) regression and classification algorithms. A novel methodology for soft tissue patient specific CT profile called Nonlinear T...

Falls are a major cause of injury and morbidity in older adults. To reduce the incidence of falls, a systematic assessment of the risk of falling is of paramount importance. The purpose of this systematic review was to provide a comprehensive comparison of the diagnostic balance tests used to predict falls and for distinguishing older adults with a...

Spinal cord injury (SCI) produces muscle wasting that is especially severe after complete and permanent damage of lower motor neurons, as can occur in complete conus and cauda equina syndrome. Even in this worst-case scenario, mass and function of permanently denervated quadriceps muscle can be rescued by surface functional electrical stimulation u...

Spinal cord injury produces muscle wasting, which is especially severe after the complete and permanent damage of lower motor neurons that occurs in complete Cauda Equina Syndrome. Even in this worst-case scenario, we have shown that permanently denervated Quadriceps muscle can be rescued by surface Functional Electrical Stimulation and a purpose d...

In the autumn of 2019, the organizers of the 2020 Padua Muscle Days planned an intense program, which was to be held from March 18 to March 21, 2020. The program included eight Scientific Sessions to occur over three full days at either Padova University or the Hotel Augustus on Euganei Hills (Padova), Italy. Abruptly, however, in early January the...

Introduction A heteromultimer of the ERG1a/1b potassium channel is known to contribute to repolarization of the cardiac action potential. A homomultimer of the ERG1a subunit has been detected in the atrophying skeletal muscle of mice experiencing muscle disuse and cancer cachexia and has been shown to contribute to muscle atrophy by enhancing ubiqu...

Background: The ERG1a potassium channel has been detected in the atrophying skeletal muscle of mice experiencing either muscle disuse or cancer cachexia and further evidenced to contribute to muscle deterioration by enhancing ubiquitin proteolysis; however, to our knowledge, ERG1 has not been reported in human skeletal muscle. Methods and Results:...

The nonlinear trimodal regression analysis (NTRA) method based on radiodensitometric CT distributions was recently developed and assessed for the quantification of lower extremity function and nutritional parameters in aging subjects. However, the use of the NTRA method for building predictive models of cardiovascular health was not explored; in th...

More that half-century of skeletal muscle research is continuing at the Padua University (Italy) under the auspices of the Interdepartmental Research Centre of Myology (CIR-Myo), the European Journal of Translational Myology (EJTM) and recently also with the support of the A&C M-C Foundation for Translational Myology, Padova, Italy. The Volume 30 (...

To evaluate progression of skin atrophy during 8 years of complete Conus-Cauda Syndrome and its recovery after 2 years of surface Functional Electrical Stimulation a cohort study was organized and implemented. Functional assessments, tissue biopsies, and follow-up were performed at the Wilhelminenspital, Vienna, Austria; skin histology and immunohi...

The differentiation of muscle fibers regenerating in the absence of the nerve is remarkable in animal experiments and is also evident in muscle biopsies harvested from human patients. During the last 20 years, clinical studies have employed long impulse biphasic electrical stimulation as a first-step treatment for humans living with long-term dener...

In this study Machine Learning supervised regression and classification algorithms are used to predict Body Mass Index (BMI), starting from Computed Tomography scans (CT). From each patient CTs, 11 parameters describing muscle, connective tissue and fat, are extracted creating a patient specific soft tissue profile called Nonlinear Trimodal Regress...

In skeletal muscle increased intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca ²⁺ ]i; uM range) is necessary for excitation‐contraction coupling; however, smaller increases in [Ca ²⁺ ]i (nM range) can modulate other physiological processes in non‐contracting muscle. Indeed, fluctuations in localized calcium concentration can serve as a second messenger. In...

A half-century tradition of studies of skeletal muscles, that started with a research on fever, specifically if and how skeletal muscle contributes to it by burning bacterial toxin, are continuing under the auspices of the Interdepartmental Research Centre of Myology (CIR-Myo), Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy and the...

A half-century tradition of skeletal muscles studies, started with a research on fever, is continuing under the auspices of the Interdepartmental Research Centre of Myology (CIR-Myo), Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy, the A&C M-C Foundation for Translational Myology, Padova, Italy and the European Journal of Translatio...

Skeletal muscle atrophy is the loss of muscle mass and strength that occurs with normal aging, neural and muscle injuries, starvation and diseases such as diabetes, neuropathies, muscular dystrophy, cancer and sepsis cachexia, etc. The atrophy of skeletal muscle can be incapacitating and is related to increased disability, morbidity and mortality i...

Since the first 2018 issue, the European Journal of Translational Myology expanded its authorship and readership from the strict topics of biology, physiology, diagnostic, management and rehabilitation of skeletal muscle to the more clinically relevant fields of human mobility to those of general medicine. This third issue opens with a review on Ch...

All progressive muscle contractile impairments, including advanced age-related muscle power decline, need permanent management. Most elderly persons, in particular octogenarians, spend small amounts of time in daily physical activity, resulting in a decline in body condition with more and more frequent hospitalizations and finally potentially forci...

Physical activity plays an important role in preventing muscle atrophy and chronic diseases in adults and in the elderly. Calcium (Ca²⁺) cycling and activation of specific molecular pathways are essential in contraction-induced muscle adaptation. This study attains human muscle sections and total homogenates prepared from biopsies obtained before (...

Sarcopenic muscular degeneration has been consistently identified as an independent risk factor for mortality in aging populations. Recent investigations have realized the quantitative potential of computed tomography (CT) image analysis to describe skeletal muscle volume and composition; however, the optimum approach to assessing these data remain...

Myologists working in Padua (Italy) were able to continue a half-century tradition of studies of skeletal muscles, that started with a research on fever, specifically if and how skeletal muscle contribute to it by burning bacterial toxin. Beside main publications in high-impact-factor journals by Padua myologists, I hope to convince readers (and my...

Myologists working in Padua (Italy) were able to continue a half-century tradition of studies of skeletal muscles, that started with a research on fever, specifically if and how skeletal muscle contribute to it by burning bacterial toxin. Beside main publications in high-impact-factor journals by Padua myologists, I hope to convince readers (and my...

Myologists working in Padua (Italy) were able to continue a half-century tradition of studies of skeletal muscles, that started with a research on fever, specifically if and how skeletal muscle contribute to it by burning bacterial toxin. Beside main publications in high-impact-factor journals by Padua myologists, I hope to convince readers (and my...

Myologists working in Padua (Italy) were able to continue a half-century tradition of studies of skeletal muscles, that started with a research on fever, specifically if and how skeletal muscle contribute to it by burning bacterial toxin. Beside main publications in high-impact-factor journals by Padua myologists, I hope to convince readers (and my...

Our studies have shown that atrophic Quadriceps muscles from spinal cord injury patients suffering with permanent denervation-induced atrophy and degeneration of muscle fibers, were almost completely rescued to normal size after two years of home-based functional electrical stimulation (h-bFES). Because we used surface electrodes to stimulate the m...

Elderly persons spend only a small amount of time for daily physical activity, contributing to limit their independence up to force them to bed and to hospitalization. Progressive muscle contractile impairments, including advanced aging-related muscle power decline, need permanent management. Inspired by the proven capability to recover skeletal mu...

All progressive muscle contractile impairments (including age-related muscle weakness) need permanent management. We discuss evidence that subclinical denervation contributes to atrophy and slowness of aged muscle, and we provide stimulation protocols for aged and denervated skeletal muscles. We describe in Sect. 11.1 the effects of home-based neur...

This chapter outlines the methods and applications of X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging to analyze soft tissue and skeletal muscle density and volume in the context of modern challenges in the field of translational myology. The approaches described here use medical imaging processing techniques and computational methods to quantify muscle mor...

This book clearly explains when and how different rehabilitation techniques should be applied in the aging patient, thereby enabling readers to identify and apply those rehabilitation strategies that will maximize quality of life and functional independence in individual cases. It is specifically designed for ease of consultation and rapid retrieva...

After spinal cord injury (SCI), patients spend daily several hours in wheelchairs, sitting on their hamstring muscles. SCI causes muscle atrophy and wasting, which is especially severe after complete and permanent damage to lower motor neurons. A European Union (EU)-supported work demonstrates that electrical fields produced by large electrodes and...

Older olds, that is octogenarians, spend small amounts of time for daily physical activity, contributing to aggravate their independence limitations up to force them to bed and to more and more frequent hospitalizations. All progressive muscle contractile impairments, including advanced age-related muscle power decline, need permanent management. I...

Ultrasonographic evaluation of the cross sectional area (CSA) of the equine multifidi muscles pre- and post-functional electrical stimulation (FES) training for 8 weeks, compared with controls, was obtained on 12 horses. The overall CSA of the right/left equine thoracolumbar multifidi showed significant (p < .001) improvement in symmetry of the mul...

As a young researched I had the option to work on skeletal muscle at the University of Padova, Italy. Introduced to the study of muscle denervation/reinnervation, I started a project on long term denervated muscle that still is my primary interest and took me from rodents’ models of chronic muscle denervation to human spinal cord injury-related mus...

Many factors contribute to the decline of skeletal muscle that occurs as we age. This is a reality that we may combat, but not prevent because it is written into our genome. The series of records from World Master Athletes reveals that skeletal muscle power begins to decline at the age of 30 years and continues, almost linearly, to zero at the age...

The second 2017 issue of EJTM volume 27 contains the collection of abstracts from the 2017Spring PaduaMuscleDays conference, that was held March 23-25 in Montegrotto, Euganei Hills, Padova, Italy. In addition to a brief history of the Padova Myology Meetings held during the last 30 years, the present and the future of the PaduaMuscleDays conference...

Objectives: Long-term lower motor neuron denervation of skeletal muscle is known to result in degeneration of muscle with replacement by adipose and fibrotic tissues. However, long-term survival of a subset of skeletal myofibers also occurs. Methods: We performed transverse and longitudinal studies of patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), pati...

After sixty and more years of basic research on electrostimulation-induced muscle plasticity, in the last fifteen years a few studies have employed long impulse biphasic electrical stimulation as a treatment for human long-term denervated muscle. Tissue trophism and muscle power are improved to a level sufficient to restore some functions by home b...

Bei der klinischen Beurteilung peripherer Lähmungen wird zwischen kompletten und inkompletten Läsionen unterschieden. Außerdem sollte je nach Ursache der Läsion, Schwere der Schädigung sowie einer eventuellen operativen Versorgung etc. die Dauer der peripheren Lähmung abgeschätzt werden. Für den klinischen Einsatz wichtig ist die Unterscheidung zwi...

This article outlines the methods and applications of threshold-based techniques to assess in vivo muscle and bone tissue distribution in normal and pathological conditions using computed tomography imaging. The approaches described here use medical imaging processing techniques and computational methods to study bone mechanical proprieties, analyz...

Muscle degeneration, characterized by the progressive loss of muscle mass, strength, and function, has been consistently identified as an independent risk factor for high mortality in both aging populations and individuals suffering from neuromuscular pathology or injury. While there is much extant literature on its quantification and correlation t...

Capacity of adult neural and muscle tissues to respond to external Electrical Stimulation (ES) is the biological basis for the development and implementation of mobility impairment physiotherapy protocols and of related assistive technologies, e.g, Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES). All body tissues, however, respond to electrical stimulation...

Age-related sarcopenia is characterized by a progressive loss of muscle mass with decline in specific force, having dramatic consequences on mobility and quality of life in seniors. The etiology of sarcopenia is multifactorial and underlying mechanisms are currently not fully elucidated. Physical exercise is known to have beneficial effects on musc...

All permanent or progressive muscle contractile impairments (including advanced aging-related muscle strength decline) need permanent management. A home-based physical exercise approach may be helpful. Development of implantable devices for muscle stimulation and of electroceuticals, as effective as pace-makers for cardiac arrhythmias or cochlear i...

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01679977.

Likewise in rodents, after complete spinal cord injury (SCI) the lower motor neuron (LMN) denervated human muscle fibers lose completely the myofibrillar apparatus and the coil distribution of myonuclei that are relocated in groups (nuclear clumps) in the center of severely atrophic muscle fibers. Up to two years of LMN denervation the muscle fiber...

Recent studies have correlated physical activity with a better prognosis in cachectic patients, although the underlying mechanisms are not yet understood. In order to identify the pathways involved in the physical activity-mediated rescue of skeletal muscle mass and function, we investigated the effects of voluntary exercise on cachexia in colon ca...

The Vienna Strategies for Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) of human muscles in neuromuscular disorders and aging were inspired by conventional protocols of neuromuscular stimulation (usually called NMES, Neuro Muscular Electrical Stimulation), but succeed to be applied to the extreme case of degenerating muscles due to long term irreversible...

There is something in our genome that dictates life expectancy and there is nothing that can be done to avoid this; indeed, there is not yet any record of a person who has cheated death. Our physical prowess can vacillate substantially in our lifetime according to our activity levels and nutritional status and we may fight aging, but we will inevit...

There is something in our genome that dictates life expectancy and there is nothing that can be done to avoid this; indeed, there is not yet any record of a person who has cheated death. Our physical prowess can vacillate substantially in our lifetime according to our activity levels and nutritional status and we may fight aging, but we will inevit...

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) has proven to be advantageous in reducing muscle hypertonicity and reeducating muscle memory in the human population and has recently been used in horses. Six horses ranging in age from 10 to 17 years were selected for the study. Still photographs and clinical evaluations using the Modified Ashworth Scale to...

This report outlines the use of a customized false-color 3D computed tomography (CT) protocol for the imaging of the rectus femoris of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients suffering from complete and permanent denervation, as characterized by complete Conus and Cauda Equina syndrome. This muscle imaging method elicits the progression of the syndrome f...

Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) has been used extensively over several decades to reverse muscle atrophy during rehabilitation for spinal cord injury patients. The benefits of the technology are being expanded into other areas, and FES has been recently utilized for injury rehabilitation and performance enhancement in horses. Six retired ho...

Despite the ravages of long term denervation there is structural and ultrastructural evidence for survival of muscle fibers in mammals, with some fibers surviving at least ten months in rodents and 3-6 years in humans. Further, in rodents there is evidence that muscle fibers may regenerate even after repeated damage in the absence of the nerve, and...

Unlabelled: BACKGROUND/STUDY CONTEXT: The capacity to perform everyday tasks is directly related to the muscular power the body can develop (see Appendix). The age-related loss of power is a fact, but the characterization or the rate of muscle power loss remains an open issue. Data useful to study the decline of the skeletal muscles power are larg...

Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) has been used extensively over several decades to reverse muscle atrophy during rehabilitation for spinal cord injury patients. The benefits of the technology are being expanded into other areas, and FES has been recently utilized for injury rehabilitation and performance enhancement in horses. Six retired ho...

Despite the ravages of long term denervation there is structural and ultrastructural evidence for survival of muscle fibers in mammals, with some fibers surviving at least ten months in rodents and 3-6 years in humans. Further, in rodents there is evidence that muscle fibers may regenerate even after repeated damage in the absence of the nerve, and...

This report outlines the use of a customized false-color 3D computed tomography (CT) protocol for the imaging of the rectus femoris of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients suffering from complete and permanent denervation, as characterized by complete Conus and Cauda Equina syndrome. This muscle imaging method elicits the progression of the syndrome f...

The loss in muscle mass coupled with a decrease in specific force and shift in fiber composition are hallmarks of aging. Training and regular exercise attenuate the signs of sarcopenia. However, pathologic conditions limit the ability to perform physical exercise. We addressed whether electrical stimulation (ES) is an alternative intervention to im...

Background Skeletal muscle is the major reservoir of body proteins and it can be particularly affected in conditions associated to altered protein turnover and metabolism such as cancer. Although severe wasting is seen primarily in patients with advanced malignancy or cachexia, some of them present degree of wasting at clinical presentation. Materi...

We will here discuss the following points related to Home-based Functional Electrical Stimulation (h-b FES) as treatment for patients with permanently denervated muscles in their legs: 1. Upper (UMN) and lower motor neuron (LMN) damage to the lower spinal cord; 2. Muscle atrophy/hypertrophy versus processes of degeneration, regeneration, and recove...