Rejected

The aim of this study was to assess smoking prevalence among Greek adults and in sub-populations with specific sociodemographic and lifestyle determinants. Moreover, to explore the association between smoking and weight status and specific stress-related states.

Resveratrol can relieve pain under various pain conditions. One of the mechanisms of resveratrol analgesia is the regulation of ion channels. Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are expressed predominantly in nociceptive sensory neurons to detect changes in extracellular pH. ASICs are important players in pain associated with tissue acidification. However, it is still unclear whether ASICs are resveratrol targets. Electrophysiological recordings showed that resveratrol decreased acid-induced and ASIC-mediated currents in male rat dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons in a concentration-dependent manner. Resveratrol downwardly shifted the concentration-response curve for protons, suggesting that it inhibited ASICs not by changing the pH , but by suppressing the proton-induced maximum response. It also suppressed acid-triggered action potentials in the rat DRG neurons. Finally, intraplantar pretreatment with resveratrol relieved acid-induced nociceptive responses in male rats in a dose-dependent manner. These results indicated that resveratrol inhibited ASIC-mediated electrophysiological activity and nociception, suggesting a novel peripheral mechanism underlying its analgesic effect.

Retrospective studies have suggested that long-term use of opioids can cause esophageal motility dysfunction. A recent clinical entity known as opioid-induced esophageal dysfunction (OIED) has been postulated. There is no data from prospective studies assessing the incidence of opioid-induced effects on the esophagus.

BACKGROUND A wide variety of emergency scenarios associated with tracheostomy tubes have been reported in patients with complex airway disease. Fracture of a tracheostomy tube is a rare complication with a potential for catastrophic outcome. The aim of this case report is to present clinical features and management of airway compromise due to a fractured tracheostomy tube in a patient with subglottic and tracheal stenosis. CASE REPORT A 19-year-old woman with a history of chronic lung disease, developmental delay, subglottic stenosis, and tracheal stenosis presented to the Emergency Department after her mother noticed that the tracheostomy tube was broken at the junction of the cannula and neck plate. Upon arrival, the patient was stable and the stoma site had a pinpoint-size opening. A chest X-ray revealed a dislodged tracheostomy tube with the shaft's convexity ventrally oriented in the trachea. The stoma was dilated to allow passage of a 2.5-mm flexible laryngoscope into the trachea. The fractured tracheostomy tube lodged in the trachea distal to the stoma and proximal to the carina. The fractured tracheostomy tube migrated to the suprastomal site at the time of repeat tracheoscopy under general anesthesia. The fractured tracheostomy tube was removed transorally through the tracheal and subglottic stenosis with the use of optical forceps and rigid bronchoscope. CONCLUSIONS Prompt recognition and management of a fractured tracheostomy tube is critical to prevent morbidity and mortality. Caregivers and healthcare providers must be prudent about proper tracheostomy tube care, potential manufacturing defects, and monitoring the condition of tracheostomy tubes.

The bile acid receptor FXR has emerged as a bona fide drug target for chronic cholestatic and metabolic liver diseases, ahead of all non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). FXR is highly expressed in the liver and intestine and activation at both sites differentially contributes to its desired metabolic effects. Unrestricted FXR activation, however, also comes along with undesired effects such as a pro-atherogenic lipid profile, pruritus and hepatocellular toxicity under certain conditions. Several pre-clinical studies have confirmed the potency of FXR activation for cholestatic and metabolic liver diseases, but overall it remains still open whether selective activation of intestinal FXR is advantageous over pan-FXR activation and whether restricted or modulated FXR activation can limit some of the side effects. Even more, FXR antagonist also bear the potential as intestinal-selective drugs in NAFLD models. In this review we will discuss the molecular prerequisites for FXR activation, pan-FXR activation and intestinal FXR in/activation from a therapeutic point of view, different steroidal and non-steroidal FXR agonists, ways to restrict FXR activation and finally what we have learned from pre-clinical models and clinical trials with different FXR therapeutics.

Dupilumab was initially approved in 2017 as the first biologic therapy for atopic dermatitis (AD). We characterized adults with AD initiating dupilumab in a real-world setting in the USA/Canada.

To describe a novel, minimally invasive surgical technique to treat severe, intractable periorbital neuropathic pain.

As a new technology of drug-free treatment, virtual reality technique has been used in various medical fields, and is being increasingly applied in the field of wound repair. Virtual reality technology can alleviate the pain caused by acute and chronic wounds, relieve the psychological anxiety of patients with wounds, and then facilitate the recovery of patients. This paper reviews the research progress of virtual reality technique's application as a clinical adjuvant therapy in wound repair in three aspects: pain treatment, psychological treatment, and functional rehabilitation, analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of this technique, and discusses the prospects of its further application in the field of wound repair.

To update and appraise the efficacy of physiotherapy for adults with cervicogenic headache.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a progressive and usually lethal pulmonary disease. Despite considerable research efforts, no effective therapeutic strategy for pulmonary fibrosis has been developed. NecroX-5 has been reported to possess anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative and anti-tumor activities. In the present study, we aimed to determine whether NecroX-5 exhibits antifibrotic property in bleomycin (BLM)-induced pulmonary fibrosis.