Central metabotropic glutamate receptors differentially participate in interleukin-1beta-induced mechanical allodynia in the orofacial area of conscious rats.

The present study investigated the role of central metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) in interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta)-induced mechanical allodynia and mirror-image mechanical allodynia in the orofacial area. Experiments were carried out on male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 230 to 280 g. After administration of 0.01, 0.1, 1, or 10 pg of IL-1beta into a subcutaneous area of the vibrissa pad, we examined the withdrawal behavioral responses produced by 10 successive trials of an air-puff ramp pressure applied ipsilaterally or contralaterally to the IL-1beta injection site. Subcutaneous injection of IL-1beta produced mechanical allodynia and mirror-image mechanical allodynia in the orofacial area. Intracisternal administration of CPCCOEt, a mGluR1 antagonist, or MPEP, a mGluR5 antagonist, reduced IL-1beta-induced mechanical allodynia and mirror-image mechanical allodynia. Intracisternal administration of APDC, a group II mGluR agonist, or L-AP4, a group III mGluR agonist, reduced both IL-1beta-induced mechanical allodynia and mirror-image mechanical allodynia. The antiallodynic effect, induced by APDC or L-AP4, was blocked by intracisternal pretreatment with LY341495, a group II mGluR antagonist, or CPPG, a group III mGluR antagonist. These results suggest that groups I, II, and III mGluRs differentially modulated IL-1beta-induced mechanical allodynia, as well as mirror-image mechanical allodynia, in the orofacial area. PERSPECTIVE: Central group I mGluR antagonists and groups II and III mGluR agonists modulate IL-1beta-induced mechanical allodynia and mirror-image mechanical allodynia in the orofacial area. Therefore, the central application of group I mGluR antagonists or groups II and III mGluR agonists might be of therapeutic value in treating pain disorder.     

Ipsilateral Aymand’s and Richter’s hernia, complicated by necrosing fascitis

This study presents the case of a patient with necrobiosis or necrosing fascitis of the inguinal region, secondary to a complicated Amyand’s hernia with a concomitant ipsilateral Richter’s hernia. The patient was treated with open trans-abdominal surgery and hernia repair through the pre-peritoneal approach, plus anti-microbians, and thrice-daily wound cleansing and dressings to the inguinal region. Evolution was satisfactory. There are no reports in the literature of a case such as this.     

Effects of halothane on spinal dorsal horn WDR(wide dynamic range) neuronal activity in cats

The effects of halothane (0.2%, 0.5%, and 1.0%) on the spinal dorsal horn wide dynamic range (WDR) neuronal activity was studied in either spinal cord intact or spinal transected cats. Extracellular activity was recorded in the dorsal horn from single WDR neurons responding to noxious and non-noxious stimuli applied to the cutaneous receptive fields on the left hind foot pads of intact or decerebrate, spinal cord transected (L 1-2) cats. When 10 micrograms of bradykinin was injected into the femoral artery ipsilateral to the recording site as the noxious test stimulus in the spinal cat, all of 7 WDR neurons gave excitatory responses which were not depressed by 0.2% and 0.5% halothane but were depressed significantly by 1.0%. On the other hand, when the injection of 10 micrograms of bradykinin into the femoral artery ipsilateral to the recording site was used in the intact cat, 7 of 14 WDR neurons (50%) gave excitatory responses, which were not depressed by 0.2% halothane but were significantly depressed by 0.5% and 1.0% halothane, and 7 of 14 WDR neurons (50%) gave inhibitory responses, which were significantly depressed by 0.2%, 0.5%, and 1.0% halothane. We have found that halothane reduces the excitation as well as the inhibition of dorsal horn WDR neuronal activity induced by bradykinin injection.     

Heparin cofactor II: an acute phase reactant in patients with deep vein thrombosis.

In human plasma, heparin cofactor II (HCII) is a thrombin inhibitor which displays similarities with antithrombin III (ATIII). As previously reported for hereditary ATIII deficiency, cases of recurrent thrombosis were reported in patients with hereditary HCII deficiency. Here, plasma HCII activity was studied in 372 patients with a history of thrombosis, classified according to their anticoagulant therapy. The mean plasma HCII level was significantly higher in patients with acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) under heparin therapy than in patients with a history of thrombosis, who were studied more than 3 months after the acute event, and were either on, or had been on, oral anticoagulant therapy. HCII and fibrinogen were significantly correlated in all three groups of patients. These results were strengthened by those of a follow-up study in 23 patients with acute DVT. Changes in plasma HCII activity paralleled those of fibrinogen. This suggests that HCII might behave like an acute phase reactant in patients with thrombosis and that the measurement of its plasma level as a risk factor for thrombosis should be performed some time after the acute episode. In conclusion, the prevalence of HCII deficiency in patients with a history of thrombosis might have been underestimated in series which included patients with acute thrombosis.     

Design and conduct of occupational epidemiology studies: III. Design aspects of case-control studies

Currently available approaches for the design of occupational case-control studies are reviewed. An accompanying paper reviews methods of analysis. We commence by drawing a distinction between cohort-based and registry-based studies. Methods for selecting cases and controls are then reviewed, including cumulative incidence and incidence density sampling, matching, sources of controls, and issues in control selection. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of the case-control approach are summarized.     

Correspondence analysis as a screening method for indicants for clinical diagnosis

In clinical diagnosis, a patient's symptoms are observed and the probabilities of various diseases are assessed. A widely used method of formalizing this approach is independent Bayes in which symptoms are assumed to be independent conditional on the disease category. Correspondence analysis provides a method for examining the dependence between symptoms and assists in the selection of a reduced set of symptoms for the application of the independent Bayes method. This approach is illustrated on two data sets concerned with patients attending Accident and Emergency departments with chest pain and acute abdominal pain, respectively.     

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma General and medical management with special attention to exacerbations

The general management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma is discussed. Pathophysiological mechanisms of bronchial obstruction and inflammation are briefly described. The importance of preventive measures is emphasized. Medicine prescribed in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, their relative place in treatment schedules and route of administration are reviewed. Finally, the importance of maximal bronchodilatation in exacerbations is stressed and the few indications for antibiotic treatment are discussed.     

Magnetic resonance contrast media (review)

Translated from Khimiko-farmatsevticheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 23, No. 5, pp. 540–549, May, 1989.