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Phase Contrast Spine MRI for the Evaluation of CSF Leak, and Why It Matters.

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[Influence of infection and its eradication treatment on small intestinal bacterial overgrowth].

To analyze the effects of ( infection and eradication therapy on small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). From September to December 2021, patients with abdominal symptoms who received C urea breath test at the Department of Gastroenterology in Peking University First Hospital were enrolled.C urea breath test was used to detect infection and patients were divided into positive and negative groups accordingly. Lactulose hydrogen methane breath test was performed to determine SIBO. positive patients were treated with quadruple therapy including amoxicillin, metronidazole, rabeprazole and bismuth potassium citrate. C urea breath test and lactulose hydrogen methane breath test were reexamined 6 weeks after the treatment. A total of 102 patients (49 males and 53 females) were enrolled, with a mean age of (42.1±9.9) years. Among them, 49 patients were negative and 53 were positive. Moreover, 47 patients were SIBO positive and 55 were SIBO negative. There was no significant difference in age, sex, body mass index, abdominal symptoms and the diagnosis of chronic atrophic gastritis between positive and negative patients at the enrollment (all >0.05). The detection rate of SIBO in infected patients was higher than that in uninfected patients, and the difference was statistically significant (60.4% vs 30.6%, =0.003). Patients with SIBO had significantly more frequent abdominal distension (36.2% vs 10.9%, =0.002) and constipation (27.7% vs 1.8%, <0.001) than patients without SIBO. The rate of SIBO after eradication treatment was significantly lower than that before treatment (20.8% vs 60.4%, <0.001). The remission rate of SIBO after eradication therapy was 66.7% (20/30). Besides, patients had obvious improvement of constipation (6.0% vs 18.9%, =0.008), and the incidence of other abdominal symptoms decreased to various degrees including diarrhea, abdominal pain, abdominal distention and poor appetite. infection increases the risk of SIBO, and the quadruple regimen containing amoxicillin and metronidazole has a therapeutic effect for patients with infection and concomitant SIBO.

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Lactobacillus ruteri compared with placebo as an adjuvant in quadruple therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication: A randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of probiotic as an adjuvant in quadruple therapy for H. pylori eradication compared with placebo.

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Letting kids play their CARDs (Comfort, Ask, Relax, Distract) to help cope with needle-related fear and pain: Results from user testing.

This study examined perceptions of children and parents about a new web-based CARD (Comfort, Ask, Relax, Distract) game that teaches children how to cope with needle-related pain and fear. A convenience sample of 15 child-parent dyads (children, 6-12 years) participated. Children played the game on a handheld device while being virtually monitored. Activity tracking revealed most children engaged with multiple components. Children reported they understood the game, it was easy to play, they learned coping strategies and believed they could implement them. Children reported lower fear of needles after playing. Parents liked the simplicity and variety of game activities. Most children and parents reported they would use the game or its coping strategies for future needles and would recommend the game. In summary, children and parents found the CARD web game acceptable and appropriate. Future studies can evaluate its effectiveness when integrated into upcoming needle procedures like COVID-19 vaccinations.

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Assessing family social support for functional autonomy and dependence in pain: A psychometric study.

Assessing family supportive responses to pain behaviors is paramount, as these may help or hinder chronic pain (CP) adjustment. Current self-report measures of pain-specific family supportive dynamics are scarce, covering a limited range of responses. To address this gap, this paper aimed at the psychometric validation of a (revised) novel measure – the Informal Social Support for Autonomy and Dependence in Pain Inventory (ISSADI-PAIN). Three-hundred and three adults participated in this study (53.3% women; M=49.31), 53.5% with current CP, 20.1% with acute pain (AP) in the previous week and 26.4% with no current pain. All participants completed the revised ISSADI-PAIN. Participants reporting AP/CP in the previous week also filled out measures of pain coping/outcomes. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyzes supported a 3-factor structure: Perceived Promotion of Dependence (PPD; 5 items; α=.82), Perceived Promotion of Autonomy-Emotional (PPA-Emot; 3 items; α=.78), PPA-instrumental (PPA-Inst; 3 items; α=.82). Higher PPD was associated with higher AP disability and less wellness-focused coping; higher PPA-Emot was associated with more wellness-focused CP coping; PPA-Inst was associated with better/worse AP/CP outcomes and more frequent use of wellness-focused CP coping. Men with AP reported more PPD than women. The revised ISSADI-PAIN is an innovative, valid, and reliable measure of relevant functions of pain-related social support, which may influence pain persistence and adaptation. Perspective: This article presents a novel self-report measure (ISSADI-PAIN) that assesses family support for functional autonomy and dependence in pain contexts. This measure may contribute to further research on the complexities of family supportive dynamics surrounding individuals with AP/CP, clarifying their role on pain persistence and adaptation processes.

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Prevalence of Long-term Low Back Pain After Symptomatic Lumbar Disc Herniation.

Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a global issue associated with potentially debilitating long-term consequences, including chronic low back pain (LBP). Short-term outcomes (< 2 years) of LDH patients have been extensively studied and demonstrate improvements in back and leg pain for both operative and conservative management. However, these improvements may not be sustained long-term (>2 years); LDH patients may develop recurrent disc herniations, progressive degenerative disc disease, and LBP regardless of management strategy. Therefore, our objective is to determine the prevalence of chronic LBP after LDH, understand the relationship between LDH and chronic LBP, and investigate the relationship between radiological findings and postoperative pain outcomes.

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Cerebral cortical encephalitis in MOGAD.

Cerebral cortical encephalitis (CCE) is a recently described myelin-oligodendrocyte-glycoprotein-antibody-associated-disease (MOGAD) phenotype. In this observational retrospective study, we characterized 19 CCE patients (6.7% of our MOGAD cohort). Headache (n=15[79%]), seizures (n=13[68%]) and encephalopathy (n=12[63%]) were frequent. MRI revealed unilateral (n=12[63%]) or bilateral (n=7[37%]) cortical T2-hyperintensity and leptomeningeal-enhancement (n=17[89%]). NMDA-receptor autoantibodies coexisted in 2 of 15 tested (13%). CCE pathology (n=2) showed extensive subpial cortical demyelination (n=2), microglial reactivity (n=2) and inflammatory infiltrates (perivascular, 1; meningeal, 1). Most received high-dose steroids (n=17[90%]) and all improved but 3 had CCE relapses. This study highlights the CCE spectrum and provides insight into its pathogenesis. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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Molecular heterogeneity in the substantia nigra: A roadmap for understanding PD motor pathophysiology.

As the ability to capture single-cell expression profiles has grown in recent years, neuroscientists studying a wide gamut of brain regions have discovered remarkable heterogeneity within seemingly related populations (Saunders et al., 2018a; Zeisel et al., 2015). These "molecular subtypes" have been demonstrated even within brain nuclei expressing the same neurotransmitter (Saunders et al., 2018a; Poulin et al., 2020; Ren et al., 2019; Okaty et al., 2020). Recently, dopamine (DA) neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and adjacent ventral tegmental area (VTA) have been revealed to be diverse not only when comparing between these two dopaminergic nuclei, but within them, and with the distribution of identified subtypes often agnostic to traditional neuroanatomical boundaries (Saunders et al., 2018a; Hook et al., 2018; Kramer et al., 2018; La Manno et al., 2016; Poulin et al., 2014; Tiklova et al., 2019; Poulin et al., 2018). Such molecularly defined subpopulations have been the subject of several recent studies. Investigations of these subtypes have ultimately unveiled many distinctive properties across several domains, such as their axonal projections and functional properties (Poulin et al., 2018; Wu et al., 2019; Pereira Luppi et al., 2021; Evans et al., 2017; Evans et al., 2020). These key differences between subtypes have begun to corroborate the biological relevance of DA neuron taxonomic schemes. We hypothesize that these putative molecular subtypes, with their distinctive circuits, could shed light on the wide variety of dopamine-related symptoms observed across several diseases including depression, chronic pain, addiction, and Parkinson's Disease. While it is difficult to reconcile how a single neurotransmitter can be involved in so many seemingly unrelated phenotypes, one solution could be the existence of several individual dopaminergic pathways serving different functions, with molecular subtypes serving as distinct nodes for these pathways. Indeed, this conceptual framework is already the dogma for anatomically distinct DA pathways, including the mesocortical, mesolimbic and mesostriatal pathways (Bjorklund & Dunnett, 2007). Here, we discuss our existing knowledge of DA neuron subtypes and attempt to provide a roadmap for how their distinctive properties can provide novel insights into the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) (Fig. 1A). By exploring the differences between molecular subtypes and correlating this to their relative degeneration within the SNc, we may gain a deeper understanding of the cell-intrinsic mechanisms underlying why some DA neurons degenerate more than others in PD. Similarly, by mapping the inputs, projections, and functions of individual subtypes, we may better understand their individual roles in the circuit-level dysfunction of dopaminergic diseases.

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Investigation of the effects of opioids on microglial nitrite and nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) production and phagocytosis during inflammation.

This study aimed to investigate how opioids affect phagocytosis and microglial nitrite and nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) production during inflammation.

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Pharmacological activation of mediodorsal thalamic GABA-A receptors modulates morphine/cetirizine-induced changes in the prefrontal cortical GFAP expression in a rat model of neuropathic pain.

The present study investigated the involvement of mediodorsal thalamic (MD) GABA-A receptors in cetirizine/morphine-induced anti-allodynia using a rat model of neuropathic pain. To assess the importance of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) for chronic pain processing, its expression level changes of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were measured following drug treatments. Each animal was subjected to chronic constriction of the sciatic nerve surgery simultaneously with the MD cannulation under stereotaxic surgery. The results showed that the administration of morphine (3-5mg/kg) or cetirizine (1-3mg/kg) produced significant analgesia in neuropathic rats. Systemic administration of cetirizine (2.5mg/kg) potentiated the analgesic response to a low and intolerance dose of morphine (3mg/kg). Intra-MD microinjection of muscimol, a selective GABA-A receptor agonist (0.005-0.01μg/rat), increased the cetirizine/morphine-induced anti-allodynia, while muscimol by itself did not affect neuropathic pain. The neuropathic pain was associated with the increased PFC expression level of GFAP, suggesting the impact of chronic pain on PFC glial management. Interestingly, the anti-allodynia was associated with a decrease in the PFC expression level of GFAP under the drugs' co-administration. Thus, cetirizine has a significant potentiating effect on morphine response in neuropathic pain via interacting with the MD GABA-A receptors. It seems that neuropathic pain affects the prefrontal cortex GFAP signaling pathway. In clinical studies, these findings can be considered to create a combination therapy with low doses of GABA-A receptor agonist plus cetirizine and morphine to manage neuropathic pain.

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