Altered immunoemotional regulatory system in COVID-19: From the origins to opportunities

The emergence of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and the worldwide spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have led to social regulations that caused substantial changes in manners of daily life. The subsequent loneliness and concerns of the pandemic during social distancing, quarantine, and lockdown are psychosocial stressors that negatively affect the immune system. These effects occur through mechanisms controlled by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis that alter immune regulation, namely the conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA), which promotes inflammation and diminishes antiviral responses, leading to inadequate protection against viral disease. Unhealthy eating habits, physical inactivity, sleep disturbances, and mental health consequences of COVID-19 add on to the pathological effects of loneliness, making immunity against this ferocious virus an even tougher fight. Therefore, social isolation, with its unintended consequences, has inherently paradoxical effects on immunity in relation to viral disease. Though this paradox can present a challenge, its acknowledgment can serve as an opportunity to address the associated issues and find ways to mitigate the adverse effects. In this review, we aim to explore, in detail, the pathological effects of the new social norms on immunity and present suggested methods to improve our physical, psychological, and healthcare abilities to fight viral infection in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2021 Elsevier B.V

Vitamin D supplementation attenuates the behavioral scores of neuropathic pain in rats

Objective(s): Neuropathic pain due to lesion or dysfunction of the peripheral or central nervous system is often refractory to the conventional analgesics. Currently, there is no proven treatment to prevent or cure neuropathic pain. A recent surge of new data suggests the potential effects of vitamin D in the medical community. This study was designed to determine whether acute or chronic vitamin D administration was effective in alleviating symptoms of neuropathic pain in a rat model of neuropathic pain. Materials and Methods: Neuropathic pain was induced by chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve in the rats that resulted in thermal hyperalgesia, mechanical, and cold allodynia. Results: Acute vitamin D injections (250, 500, and 1000 unit/kg i.p.) on the 7th, 14th, and 21st postoperative days could not attenuate mechanical and cold allodynia as well as heat hyperalgesia compared to CCI group. But when vitamin D (1000 unit/kg i.p.) administration was started on the first day after surgery and given daily until the 21st day, cold allodynia and heat hyperalgesia considerably were attenuated. However, no differences in paw withdrawal thresholds were observed. Conclusion: These results indicate that chronic vitamin D administrations can attenuate the behavioral scores of neuropathic pain in rats. © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Grou

Environmental enrichment intervention for Rett syndrome: An individually randomised stepped wedge trial

Background: Rett syndrome is caused by a pathogenic mutation in the MECP2 gene with major consequences for motor and cognitive development. One of the effects of impaired MECP2 function is reduced production of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), a protein required for normal neuronal development. When housed in an enriched environment, MECP2 null mice improved motor abilities and increased levels of BDNF in the brain. We investigated the effects of environmental enrichment on gross motor skills and blood BDNF levels in girls with Rett syndrome. Methods: A genetically variable group of 12 girls with a MECP2 mutation and younger than 6 years participated in a modified individually randomised stepped wedge design study. Assessments were conducted on five occasions, two during the baseline period and three during the intervention period. Gross motor function was assessed using the Rett Syndrome Gross Motor Scale (maximum score of 45) on five occasions, two during the baseline period and three during the intervention period. Blood levels of BDNF were measured at the two baseline assessments and at the end of the intervention period. The intervention comprised motor learning and exercise supplemented with social, cognitive and other sensory experiences over a six-month period. Results: At the first assessment, the mean (SD) age of the children was 3 years (1 year 1 month) years ranging from 1 year 6 months to 5 years 2 months. Also at baseline, mean (SD) gross motor scores and blood BDNF levels were 22.7/45 (9.6) and 165.0 (28.8) ng/ml respectively. Adjusting for covariates, the enriched environment was associated with improved gross motor skills (coefficient 8.2, 95%CI 5.1, 11.2) and a 321.4 ng/ml (95%CI 272.0, 370.8) increase in blood BDNF levels after 6 months of treatment. Growth, sleep quality and mood were unaffected. Conclusions: Behavioural interventions such as environmental enrichment can reduce the functional deficit in Rett syndrome, contributing to the evidence-base for management and further understanding of epigenetic mechanisms. Environmental enrichment will be an important adjunct in the evaluation of new drug therapies that use BDNF pathways because of implications for the strengthening of synapses and improved functioning. Trial registration: ACTRN12615001286538

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. Methods The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model—a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates—with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality—which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. Findings The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2–100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1–290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1–211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4–48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3–37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7–9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. Interpretation Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere

Global age-sex-specific mortality, life expectancy, and population estimates in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1950–2021, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: a comprehensive demographic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background Estimates of demographic metrics are crucial to assess levels and trends of population health outcomes. The profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on populations worldwide has underscored the need for timely estimates to understand this unprecedented event within the context of long-term population health trends. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 provides new demographic estimates for 204 countries and territories and 811 additional subnational locations from 1950 to 2021, with a particular emphasis on changes in mortality and life expectancy that occurred during the 2020–21 COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods 22 223 data sources from vital registration, sample registration, surveys, censuses, and other sources were used to estimate mortality, with a subset of these sources used exclusively to estimate excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2026 data sources were used for population estimation. Additional sources were used to estimate migration; the effects of the HIV epidemic; and demographic discontinuities due to conflicts, famines, natural disasters, and pandemics, which are used as inputs for estimating mortality and population. Spatiotemporal Gaussian process regression (ST-GPR) was used to generate under-5 mortality rates, which synthesised 30 763 location-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 1365 surveys and censuses, and 80 other sources. ST-GPR was also used to estimate adult mortality (between ages 15 and 59 years) based on information from 31 642 location-years of vital registration and sample registration data, 355 surveys and censuses, and 24 other sources. Estimates of child and adult mortality rates were then used to generate life tables with a relational model life table system. For countries with large HIV epidemics, life tables were adjusted using independent estimates of HIV-specific mortality generated via an epidemiological analysis of HIV prevalence surveys, antenatal clinic serosurveillance, and other data sources. Excess mortality due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 was determined by subtracting observed all-cause mortality (adjusted for late registration and mortality anomalies) from the mortality expected in the absence of the pandemic. Expected mortality was calculated based on historical trends using an ensemble of models. In location-years where all-cause mortality data were unavailable, we estimated excess mortality rates using a regression model with covariates pertaining to the pandemic. Population size was computed using a Bayesian hierarchical cohort component model. Life expectancy was calculated using age-specific mortality rates and standard demographic methods. Uncertainty intervals (UIs) were calculated for every metric using the 25th and 975th ordered values from a 1000-draw posterior distribution. Findings Global all-cause mortality followed two distinct patterns over the study period: age-standardised mortality rates declined between 1950 and 2019 (a 62·8% [95% UI 60·5–65·1] decline), and increased during the COVID-19 pandemic period (2020–21; 5·1% [0·9–9·6] increase). In contrast with the overall reverse in mortality trends during the pandemic period, child mortality continued to decline, with 4·66 million (3·98–5·50) global deaths in children younger than 5 years in 2021 compared with 5·21 million (4·50–6·01) in 2019. An estimated 131 million (126–137) people died globally from all causes in 2020 and 2021 combined, of which 15·9 million (14·7–17·2) were due to the COVID-19 pandemic (measured by excess mortality, which includes deaths directly due to SARS-CoV-2 infection and those indirectly due to other social, economic, or behavioural changes associated with the pandemic). Excess mortality rates exceeded 150 deaths per 100 000 population during at least one year of the pandemic in 80 countries and territories, whereas 20 nations had a negative excess mortality rate in 2020 or 2021, indicating that all-cause mortality in these countries was lower during the pandemic than expected based on historical trends. Between 1950 and 2021, global life expectancy at birth increased by 22·7 years (20·8–24·8), from 49·0 years (46·7–51·3) to 71·7 years (70·9–72·5). Global life expectancy at birth declined by 1·6 years (1·0–2·2) between 2019 and 2021, reversing historical trends. An increase in life expectancy was only observed in 32 (15·7%) of 204 countries and territories between 2019 and 2021. The global population reached 7·89 billion (7·67–8·13) people in 2021, by which time 56 of 204 countries and territories had peaked and subsequently populations have declined. The largest proportion of population growth between 2020 and 2021 was in sub-Saharan Africa (39·5% [28·4–52·7]) and south Asia (26·3% [9·0–44·7]). From 2000 to 2021, the ratio of the population aged 65 years and older to the population aged younger than 15 years increased in 188 (92·2%) of 204 nations. Interpretation Global adult mortality rates markedly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, reversing past decreasing trends, while child mortality rates continued to decline, albeit more slowly than in earlier years. Although COVID-19 had a substantial impact on many demographic indicators during the first 2 years of the pandemic, overall global health progress over the 72 years evaluated has been profound, with considerable improvements in mortality and life expectancy. Additionally, we observed a deceleration of global population growth since 2017, despite steady or increasing growth in lower-income countries, combined with a continued global shift of population age structures towards older ages. These demographic changes will likely present future challenges to health systems, economies, and societies. The comprehensive demographic estimates reported here will enable researchers, policy makers, health practitioners, and other key stakeholders to better understand and address the profound changes that have occurred in the global health landscape following the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and longer-term trends beyond the pandemic

Global, regional, and national incidence of six major immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: findings from the global burden of disease study 2019

Background The causes for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) are diverse and the incidence trends of IMIDs from specific causes are rarely studied. The study aims to investigate the pattern and trend of IMIDs from 1990 to 2019. Methods We collected detailed information on six major causes of IMIDs, including asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis, between 1990 and 2019, derived from the Global Burden of Disease study in 2019. The average annual percent change (AAPC) in number of incidents and age standardized incidence rate (ASR) on IMIDs, by sex, age, region, and causes, were calculated to quantify the temporal trends. Findings In 2019, rheumatoid arthritis, atopic dermatitis, asthma, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease accounted 1.59%, 36.17%, 54.71%, 0.09%, 6.84%, 0.60% of overall new IMIDs cases, respectively. The ASR of IMIDs showed substantial regional and global variation with the highest in High SDI region, High-income North America, and United States of America. Throughout human lifespan, the age distribution of incident cases from six IMIDs was quite different. Globally, incident cases of IMIDs increased with an AAPC of 0.68 and the ASR decreased with an AAPC of −0.34 from 1990 to 2019. The incident cases increased across six IMIDs, the ASR of rheumatoid arthritis increased (0.21, 95% CI 0.18, 0.25), while the ASR of asthma (AAPC = −0.41), inflammatory bowel disease (AAPC = −0.72), multiple sclerosis (AAPC = −0.26), psoriasis (AAPC = −0.77), and atopic dermatitis (AAPC = −0.15) decreased. The ASR of overall and six individual IMID increased with SDI at regional and global level. Countries with higher ASR in 1990 experienced a more rapid decrease in ASR. Interpretation The incidence patterns of IMIDs varied considerably across the world. Innovative prevention and integrative management strategy are urgently needed to mitigate the increasing ASR of rheumatoid arthritis and upsurging new cases of other five IMIDs, respectively. Funding The Global Burden of Disease Study is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The project funded by Scientific Research Fund of Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital (2022QN38)

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Epidemiological evaluation of children with arthritis in Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan from 1991 to 1999

History and Objectives: Considering the incidence of arthritis and controversial reports regarding type, involved joint, gender and paraclinical findings and the absence of enough information for its prevalence in Iran, this research study was performed to determine the epidemiology of arthritis in children admitted to Shaheed Beheshti hospital in Kashan from 1991 to 1999. Materials and Methods: The research was conducted on existing data on hospitalized children with an initial diagnosis of arthritis. For this purpose, their records were collected and the cases with a definite diagnosis were carefully studied. The data regarding age, gender, involved joint, type of disease and ESR and so on were recorded in questionnaire. Results: The study was performed on 4960 admitted children and 248 (5) out of them had arthritis. In addition, 57.3 out of them were male and 42.7 were female. Meanwhile, 3.6 had an age less than 1 year, 42.3 with an age between 1 and 5 years and 54.1 had an age greater than 5 years. The most common form was septic arthritis (23) and this type of arthritis was observed in children under 1 year of age and its incidence was 50 in children under 3 years of age. Other kinds of disorder were reactive, brucellosis and toxic arthritis. Furthermore, all cases with an ESR greater than 100 had septic arthritis and some of the children with septic one showed a low ESR. Conclusion: The septic arthritis is the most important and common form of arthritis, especially in children under 1 year of age. Therefore, it is recommended to perform similar studies in other region in Iran to have a thorough epidemiological evaluation

Vitamin D supplementation attenuates the behavioral scores of neuropathic pain in rats

Objective(s): Neuropathic pain due to lesion or dysfunction of the peripheral or central nervous system is often refractory to the conventional analgesics. Currently, there is no proven treatment to prevent or cure neuropathic pain. A recent surge of new data suggests the potential effects of vitamin D in the medical community. This study was designed to determine whether acute or chronic vitamin D administration was effective in alleviating symptoms of neuropathic pain in a rat model of neuropathic pain. Materials and Methods: Neuropathic pain was induced by chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve in the rats that resulted in thermal hyperalgesia, mechanical, and cold allodynia. Results: Acute vitamin D injections (250, 500, and 1000 unit/kg i.p.) on the 7th, 14th, and 21st postoperative days could not attenuate mechanical and cold allodynia as well as heat hyperalgesia compared to CCI group. But when vitamin D (1000 unit/kg i.p.) administration was started on the first day after surgery and given daily until the 21st day, cold allodynia and heat hyperalgesia considerably were attenuated. However, no differences in paw withdrawal thresholds were observed. Conclusion: These results indicate that chronic vitamin D administrations can attenuate the behavioral scores of neuropathic pain in rats. © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Grou

Anti-inflammatory cytokines in autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: In the search for the causes of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), inflammatory markers have emerged as potential candidates. The present meta-analysis was performed on studies examining circulating concentrations of anti-inflammatory cytokines in people with ASD compared with control subjects without ASD. Methods: We identified potentially eligible studies by systematically searching electronic databases from inception to February 2018. Results: Twenty-five studies with a total of 1754 participants (1022 patients with ASD and 732 control subjects) were included in the mate-analysis; 4 for interferon (IFN)-α, 9 for interleukin (IL)-1 receptor antagonist (Ra), 9 for IL-4, 6 for IL-5, 3 for IL-9, 14 for IL-10, 7 for IL-13, and 6 for transforming growth factor (TGF)-β. We found a moderate decrease in plasma levels of IL-10 (SMD = �0.59) and a small decrease in serum levels of IL-1Ra (SMD = �0.25) in patients with ASD. On the contrary, serum IL-5 levels were slightly increased (SMD = 0.26) in these patients. We conducted meta-regression analyses to investigate the possible effect of moderatos on the effect size (ES) of difference in mean levels of IL-10. Difference in the mean age between patients and controls showed a negative influence on the ES and was able to explain about 0.4 of total between-study variance. In contrast, latitude exerted a positive effect on the ES and explained a lower proportion (0.1) of total between-study variance. Conclusions: This meta-analysis provides evidence for the lower concentration of anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-10 and IL-1Ra in autistic patients compared with control subjects. Also, meta-regression analyses point to the interaction of latitude, age, and gender with peripheral alterations of associated anti-inflammatory cytokines. © 2019 Elsevier Lt