Rejected

and importance: Brucellosis is a common infection in Mediterranean region that manifests with various symptoms. Brucellosis should be considered as a possible cause of recurrent fever even if the symptoms are not suggestive of brucellosis.

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a natural problem linked to the inflammation. We aimed to investigate the role of dezocine (DEZ) in the development of IDD. Human nucleus pulposus cells (HNPCs) induced by interleukin (IL)-1β was used as a cellular model of IDD. After treatment with DEZ, HNPCs viability was evaluated with a CCK-8 assay. Then, the levels of inflammatory factors, including IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and oxidative stress-related markers, including reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH), were tested by RT-qPCR or kits. TUNEL staining was employed to detect cell apoptosis and Western blot was used to determine the expression of proteins related to inflammation, oxidative stress, apoptosis, endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) and MAPK signaling. Afterward, PMA, a MAPK signaling pathway agonist, was adopted for exploring the regulatory effects of DEZ on MAPK pathway. Results indicated that DEZ enhanced cell viability of HNPCs after IL-1β exposure. DEZ alleviated the inflammation and oxidative stress, evidenced by decreased levels of IL-6, TNF-α, ROS, MDA, p-NF-κB p65, NF-κB p65 in nucleus, cox-2 and increased levels of NF-κB p65 in cytoplasm, GSH, SOD1 and SOD2. Moreover, DEZ notably inhibited IL-1β-induced apoptosis of HNPCs. Furthermore, DEZ suppressed the levels of ERS-related proteins. The levels of related proteins in MAPK signaling including p-P38 and p-ERK1/2 were remarkably reduced after DEZ administration. By contrast, PMA crippled the impacts of DEZ on inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis of HNPCs induced by IL-1β. Collectively, DEZ ameliorates IL-1β-induced HNPCs injury via inhibiting MAPK signaling.

We investigated the change, if any, in prostaglandin E2 (PGE) signaling in endometriotic lesions of different developmental stages in mouse. In addition, we evaluated the effect of treatment of mice with induced deep endometriosis (DE) with inhibitors of PGE receptor subtypes EP2 and EP4 and metformin.

The surgical Nuss correction of the funnel chest deformity is a painful procedure without an established consensus of pain relief methods. High doses and long duration of opioids requirements impedes the ERAS protocol introduction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of intraoperative intercostal nerve cryolysis in terms of pain management in relation to the routinely used multimodal analgesia in Poland. We also assessed the impact of using the proprietary "BackOnFeet" application on the quality of life of patients after surgery in relation to the ERAS protocol.

Comorbid mental illness may negatively impact recovery from concussion. This study evaluated whether the level of symptom clusters at clinic intake contribute to poor mental health recovery in concussed patients during treatment, which may in turn serve as a target intervention.

Crebanine (Cre) and Stephanine (Step) are isoquinoline aporphine-type alkaloids that are extracted from H. S. Lo. Plants of the genus are often used for treatment of stomach pain, abdominal pain, and rheumatoid arthritis. Both Cre and Step exhibit strong activities but are also associated with a certain level of toxicity, 10,11-dibrominecrebanine (2Br-Cre) is a bromine-modified derivative of Cre that we prepared and tested in order to reduce toxicity and enhance efficacy. To investigate the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of 2Br-Cre and Step based on previous research findings and explore the specific biological mechanisms involved. The anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of 2Br-Cre and Step were investigated using a range of experimental models, including xylene-induced ear edema, carrageenan-induced pleurisy, carrageenan-induced paw edema, the hot-plate test, the naloxone antagonism test and the acetic acid writhing test. A model of chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve was also established to investigate therapeutic effects. A RAW264.7 cell model was established using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to estimate the effects of these compounds on cytokines levels. 2Br-Cre and step significantly inhibited ear edema, paw edema and presented anti-inflammatory activity in the pleurisy model by inhibiting leukocyte migration and nitric oxide (NO) production, and by reducing the levels of PGE2. 2Br-Cre and Step significantly increased the pain threshold of mice subjected to heat stimulation; the effect was blocked by naloxone, thus suggesting that the analgesic effects of 2Br-Cre and Step were mediated by opioid receptors. 2Br-Cre and Step inhibited the frequency of writhing and prolonged the latency of writhing, and reduced the abnormal increase in the levels of BDNF in the serum and brain, thus alleviating the pain caused by CCI. In addition, 2Br-Cre and Step significantly inhibited the production of several inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α) by LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages ( < .01). 2Br-Cre and Step exerted remarkable anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. As a structural modification of Cre, 2Br-Cre retains the anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity of Cre but with better efficacy. Consequently, 2Br-Cre should be investigated further as a lead compound for analgesia.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the addition of esketamine to morphine would improve postoperative analgesia after cesarean section.

Most hydrotherapy studies during childbirth report findings related to pain using a widespread set of subjective measures. In this study, ECG biomarkers as quantitative cardiac autonomic outcomes were used to assess the effects of warm shower hydrotherapy on laboring women during the first stage of labor.

The majority of pediatric severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) cases demonstrate asymptomatic, mild or moderate disease. The main symptoms in children with COVID-19 are respiratory symptoms but some patients develop gastrointestinal symptoms and liver injury. We aim to review gastrointestinal symptoms and liver injury in children with confirmed COVID-19 infection.

Although laser stimuli activate both Ad- and C-fibres, the corresponding laser evoked potentials (LEPs) remain restricted to the Ad-fibers input, while the C-fibers related potential is hardly detectable.