Rejected

Epidural analgesia provides effective pain relief during labor. However, there is limited information on the factors associated with pregnant women's preferences for labor epidural analgesia (LEA) prior to labor onset. We performed a secondary analysis of a clinical trial to identify demographic characteristics, pain and psychological vulnerability factors associated with preferences for LEA. Pregnant women at ≥ 36 weeks' gestation prior to labor and delivery were recruited and given questionnaires on their LEA preferences, psychological and pain vulnerabilities. The primary outcome was the association between pre-delivery Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) with cut-off ≥ 10 and LEA preference. Of the 250 women recruited, 51.6% (n = 129) indicated "yes to LEA". Amongst those considering LEA as an option to reduce labor pain, women who preferred to use LEA (n = 129) indicated favorable or neutral opinion. Additionally, 68% (n = 82) from those "no to LEA" or "not sure about LEA" still gave either favorable or neutral opinion for LEA (p < 0.0001). The multivariate logistic regression analysis found that EPDS ≥ 10 (p < 0.01), occupation (p = 0.03), ethnicity (p < 0.01), state anxiety (p = 0.02), mode of current pregnancy (unplanned; planned, assisted; planned, natural; p = 0.03) and premenstrual anger/irritability before current pregnancy (p = 0.02) were associated with LEA preference. The findings may help to define the population that may require further education on considering LEA and allow early identification on different LEA preferences to provide patient centric care prior to labor and delivery.

Nigeria is Africa's most populated country. By November 2021 it had experienced three waves of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Peer-reviewed seroprevalence data assessing the proportion of the Nigerian population that have been infected were extremely limited.

Persons living with HIV (PWH) experience a disproportionate level of comorbid chronic pain and depression compared to individuals who do not have a diagnosis of HIV. Many PWH report pain that impairs daily function, is severe, and requires medical management. Depression alone is associated with HIV disease progression, medication non-adherence, and increased mortality. Given that numerous studies show that PWHs have chronic pain and depression despite pharmacologic treatment, there is a clear need for additional treatment modalities to address these conditions.

To investigate the efficacy of combined epidural anaesthesia/analgesia (EAA) against postoperative delirium/cognitive dysfunction (POD/POCD) in adults after major non-cardiac surgery under general anaesthesia (GA).

Rhizoma Dioscoreae (RD) is the rhizome of Dioscorea opposita Thunb., a traditional Chinese medicine, which can treat hypertension, diabetes, cerebral vasospasm headache and Alzheimer's disease. Meanwhile, RD is the main component of Liuwei Dihuang pill, a Chinese patent medicine. Rhizoma Dioscoreae polysaccharides (RDPS) are the primary active ingredient of RD. Modern medical research confirmed RDPS has multiple pharmacological effects, including neuroprotection, immunoregulation, antioxidant effect in many organs. The primary ischemia/hypoxia injury and secondary reperfusion injury are mainly caused by oxidative stress, which caused by hypoxia, such as free radical generation, energy metabolism disorder, intracellular calcium overload, excitatory amino acid release and inflammatory reaction.

To investigate whether bone marrow edema (BME) fulfilling the ASAS definition of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sacroiliitis is associated with non-inflammatory spine abnormalities in patients with definite mechanical chronic back pain (CBP).

Stroke is an important cause of disability and death in adults worldwide. However, it is preventable in most cases and treatable as long as patients recognize it and reach capable medical facilities in time. This community-based study investigated students' stroke knowledge, Emergency Medical Services (EMS) activation, associated risk factors, warning signs and symptoms, and prior experience from different educational levels in the KIDS SAVE LIVES BRAZIL project.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a subepidermal autoimmune blistering disease predominantly affecting elderly patients and carries significant morbidity and mortality. Patients typically suffer from severe itch with eczematous lesions, urticarial plaques, and/or tense blisters. BP is characterized by the presence of circulating autoantibodies against two components of the hemidesmosome, BP180 and BP230. The transmembrane BP180, also known as type XVII collagen or BPAG2, represents the primary pathogenic autoantigen in BP, whereas the intracellular BP230 autoantigen is thought to play a minor role in disease pathogenesis. Although experimental data exist suggesting that anti-BP230 antibodies are secondarily formed following initial tissue damage mediated by antibodies targeting extracellular antigenic regions of BP180, there is emerging evidence that anti-BP230 IgG autoantibodies alone directly contribute to tissue damage. It has been further claimed that a subset of patients has a milder variant of BP driven solely by anti-BP230 autoantibodies. Furthermore, the presence of anti-BP230 autoantibodies might correlate with distinct clinical features. This review summarizes the current understanding of the role of BP230 and anti-BP230 antibodies in BP pathogenesis.

This study evaluated the effects of dexmedetomidine and propofol on the concentration of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the cerebrospinal fluid (c-BDNF) and concomitant mechanical allodynia in a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) rat.