Rejected

To describe the kinetics of circulating cytokines and chemokines in humans with ZIKAV infection.

Rib fractures are common among trauma patients and analgesia remains the cornerstone of treatment. Intercostal nerve blocks provide analgesia but are limited by the duration of the anesthetic. This study compares outcomes of epidural analgesia to intercostal nerve block using liposomal bupivacaine for the treatment of traumatic rib fractures.

Gulf War illness (GWI) is a condition that affects about 30% of veterans who served in the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War. Given its broad symptomatic manifestation, including chronic pain, fatigue, neurological, gastrointestinal, respiratory, and skin problems, it is of interest to examine whether GWI is associated with changes in the brain. Existing neuroimaging studies, however, have been limited by small sample sizes, inconsistent GWI diagnosis criteria, and potential comorbidity confounds.

Transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1) plays an important role in pain and inflammatory responses. Previous studies have shown that the expression of TRPV1 increases in the sensory neurons of the esophagus during the development of gastroesophageal reflux disease and esophagitis, but the response of TRPV1 in esophageal epithelial cells (EECs), which directly confront the refluxed acid, is still unknown. Here, we found that acid reflux triggered esophageal damage, which was accompanied by increased expression of TRPV1 in EECs and TRPV1 channel activity in these cells. Furthermore, menthol inhibited the Ca influx induced by acid stimulation in EECs. After menthol treatment, the expression of TRPV1 in EECs was significantly reduced, and their hyperplasia was significantly reduced; finally, the inflammation pathway elicited in EECs was diminished in mice with acid reflux. These results suggest that menthol improves the clinical symptoms caused by gastroesophageal acid reflux by interfering with TRPV1 in EECs.

Dehorning causes pain and distress to cattle, and there is a need to provide effective and practical analgesia to improve animal welfare. We conducted an experiment to determine the effect of a modified post-operative topical wound management formulation containing two local anaesthetics (TA) on the plasma cortisol concentration (PCC) of scoop-dehorned calves. Two months old Holstein-Friesian heifer calves ( = 30) were randomly allocated to sham dehorning control (CON), scoop dehorning (D), or scoop dehorning with immediate post-operative application of the TA (DTA). Blood samples were obtained via jugular venepuncture prior to sham or actual dehorning, and 40 min, 1.5, 4 and 24 h later. PCC changed significantly over time ( < 0.01). There was a trend for lower PCC in DTA calves compared to D calves ( = 0.09), with the PCC area under the curve lowest in CON calves as compared to D and DTA calves ( = 0.02). Cortisol concentrations were similar between D and DTA at all time points. The TA did not reduce cortisol concentrations up to 24 h following treatment and the cortisol response likely reflects the pain induced by the procedure, the effect of handling and restraint, and haemorrhaging which limited adherence of the TA actives. A multimodal analgesic approach, as assessed through multiple pain indicators, should be the focus of future work.

While there is a known association between low vitamin D levels and increased chronic pain in patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), there are no reported studies evaluating the relationship of vitamin D levels and hospitalization outcomes in this population. The aim of this study was to assess this relationship with hospitalization outcomes defined as the number of emergency room (ER) visits, hospital admissions for pain crisis, and length of hospital stay.

Physical activity, particularly high-intensity eccentric muscle contractions, produces exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD). The breakdown of muscle fibers and the consequent inflammatory responses derived from EIMD affect exercise performance. Curcumin, a natural polyphenol extracted from turmeric, has been shown to have mainly antioxidant and also anti-inflammatory properties. This effect of curcumin could improve EIMD and exercise performance. The main objective of this systematic review was to critically evaluate the effectiveness of curcumin supplementation on EIMD and inflammatory and oxidative markers in a physically active population. A structured search was carried out following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines in the databases SCOPUS, Web of Science (WOS), and Medline (PubMed) from inception to October 2019. The search included original articles with randomized controlled crossover or parallel design in which the intake of curcumin administered before and/or after exercise was compared with an identical placebo situation. No filters were applied to the type of physical exercise performed, the sex or the age of the participants. Of the 301 articles identified in the search, 11 met the established criteria and were included in this systematic review. The methodological quality of the studies was assessed using the McMaster Critical Review Form. The use of curcumin reduces the subjective perception of the intensity of muscle pain; reduces muscle damage through the decrease of creatine kinase (CK); increases muscle performance; has an anti-inflammatory effect by modulating the pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-8; and may have a slight antioxidant effect. In summary, the administration of curcumin at a dose between 150-1500 mg/day before and during exercise, and up until 72 h' post-exercise, improved performance by reducing EIMD and modulating the inflammation caused by physical activity. In addition, humans appear to be able to tolerate high doses of curcumin without significant side-effects.

Prospective Observational Study- Basic Science (Level 1).

Among patients with stable coronary artery disease, effort-related dyspnea is associated with a larger ischemic territory and worse outcome. Whether dyspnea, not related to heart failure, is also associated with adverse outcome among patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) has not been fully elucidated.

The repair process consists of molecular and cellular events that can be accelerated by specific therapies. Considering this, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of ibuprofen phonophoresis associated with gold nanoparticles in the animal model of traumatic muscle injury. Was used 80 male wistar rats divided into eight groups: Sham; Muscle injury (MI); MI + therapeutic pulsed ultrasound (TPU); MI + Ibuprofen (IBU); MI + GNPs; MI + TPU+ IBU; MI + TPU + GNPs and MI + TPU + IBU + GNPs. The lesion in the gastrocnemius was performed by a single direct trauma impact on the injured press. The animals were treated with pulsed ultrasound and the gel with gold nanoparticles and/or ibuprofen. The treatment was applied daily for 5 days and the first session was 12 hours after the muscle injury. The gastrocnemius muscle was surgically removed for analyzes biochemical, molecular and histological. In the analyzes only the MI + TPU + IBU + GNPs group showed a reduction in TNF-a and IL-1 levels, with a concomitant increase in the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines. In the analysis of oxidative stress, only the MI + TPU + IBU + GNPs group presented a reversal of the condition when compared to the MI group. In the histological analysis, the MI group presented a large cell infiltrate and a centralized nucleus and only the MI + TPU + IBU + GNPs group showed a structural improvement, also in the pain results the MI + TPU + IBU + GNPs showed a significant difference in comparison to the MI group (p<0.01). We believe that the effects of phonophoresis with anti-inflammatory drugs associated with gold nanoparticles may potentiate the reduction of the inflammatory response and regulate the cellular redox state.