The Analgesia-Enhancing Component of\ud Ingested Amniotic Fluid Does Not Affect\ud Nicotine-Induced Antinociception in\ud Naltrexone-Treated Rats

Ingestion of amniotic fluid and placenta by rats has been shown to enhance opioid-mediated antinociception but not affect the nonopioid-mediated antinociception produced by aspirin, suggesting spccificity for opioid-mediated processes. However, enhancement by the active substance(s) in amniotic fluid and placenta1 (POEF, for placental opioid-enhancing factor) of antinociception produced by other nonopioid mechanisms has yet to be examined. The present experiments tested whether ingestion of amniotic fluid enhances the antinociception produced by nicotine injection. In Experiment IA, Enhancement of morphine-mediated antinociception by ingestion of amniotic fluid was demonstrated in a hot-plate assay. In Experiment IB, rats pretreated with naltrexone were given an orogastric infusion of amniotic fluid or control (0.25 ml), then injected with nicotine (0, 0.075, 0.125, or 0.225 mg/kg subcutaneously), then tested for antinociception in a hot-plate assay. Amniotic fluid ingestion did not enhance the antinociception produced by various doses of nicotine. In Experiment 2, rats pretreated with naltrexone were given an orogastric infusion of amniotic fluid (0, 0.125,\ud 0.25, or 0.50 ml) and then injectcd with 0.125 mg/kg nicotine. None of the doses of amniotic fluid enhanced the nicotine-induced antinociception. The findings of these experiments lend support to our contention that the enhancement by POEF of antinociception is specific to opioid-mediated processes

Nicotine, Tobacco Use, and the 55th Nebraska Symposium on Motivation

Tobacco use is a worldwide health problem. As so well stated by Mackay and Ericksen (2002), “No other consumer product is as dangerous, or kills as many people. Tobacco kills more than AIDS, legal drugs, illegal drugs, road accidents, murder, and suicide combined” (p. 36). Imagine the lives saved, and the amount of pain, emotional suffering, and fiscal burden alleviated, if we could devise approaches that helped current tobacco users quit and remain abstinent, and prevented new smokers from emerging. Although these idealistic goals are worth pursuing, improving cessation rates by only a small fraction, or making small gains in preventing people from experimenting with tobacco, would nevertheless translate into significant improvement in the health and well-being of countless thousands worldwide as well as financial savings to employers, government institutions, and the heath care system. Even such small, incremental steps require a concerted and coordinated effort by basic scientists, clinical researchers and practitioners, and policy makers to discover the basis of tobacco dependence and apply that knowledge to the implementation of prevention policies and smoking cessation aids. This year\u27s Nebraska Symposium on Motivation was devoted to research on the drug that is widely believed to form the basis of tobacco use and dependence, nicotine

Feasibility and Usability of Tele-interview for Medical Residency Interview

Every year in the United States, medical students and residency programs dedicate millions of dollars to the residency matching process. On-site interviews for training positions involve tremendous financial investment, and time spent detracts from educational pursuits and clinical responsibilities. Students are usually required to fund their own travel and accommodations, adding additional financial burdens to an already costly medical education. Similarly, residency programs allocate considerable funds to interview-day meals, tours, staffing, and social events. With the rapid onslaught of innovations and advancements in the field of telecommunication, technology has become ubiquitous in the practice of medicine. Internet applications have aided our ability to deliver appropriate, evidence-based care at speeds previously unimagined. Wearable medical tech allows physicians to monitor patients from afar, and telemedicine has emerged as an economical means by which to provide care to all corners of the world. It is against this backdrop that we consider the integration of technology into the residency application process. This article aims to assess the implementation of technology in the form of web-based interviewing as a viable means by which to reduce the costs and productivity losses associated with traditional in-person interview days

Non-respiratory presentations of COVID-19, a clinical review.

INTRODUCTION: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19) is a highly infectious viral syndrome currently threatening millions of people worldwide. It is widely recognized as a disease of the pulmonary system, presenting with fever, cough, and shortness of breath. However, a number of extrapulmonary manifestations have been described in the literature. OBJECTIVE: In this review, we seek to provide a comprehensive summary of the hematologic, gastroenterological, renal, dermatologic, neurologic, and psychiatric manifestations of COVID-19. DISCUSSION: Hematological presentations of COVID-19 include laboratory abnormalities such as decreased total lymphocyte count, prolonged prothrombin time (PT), elevated d-dimer, and increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Several of these findings are associated with increased mortality among infected patients. The most common gastrointestinal symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Furthermore, presence of viral RNA in patient stool suggests the possibility of additional testing modalities for COVID-19. Nephrological findings such as proteinuria, hematuria, and elevated BUN and creatinine levels have been observed. Additionally, several studies demonstrated that patients with COVID-19 who developed acute kidney injury (AKI) had a greater risk of mortality. The virus can also present with cutaneous symptoms such as erythematous rashes, urticaria, and chicken pox-like lesions. Neuropsychiatric symptoms have been described in the literature, and patients can exhibit findings consistent with viral encephalitis, cerebral vascular disease, peripheral nerve disorders, and psychosis. CONCLUSION: Although COVID-19 does usually present primarily with respiratory symptoms, the extra-pulmonary manifestations of the virus are unpredictable and varied. Better understanding and awareness of these symptoms can lead to more efficient diagnosis, rapid treatment, isolation, and decreased spread of the disease

Exploratory Study on Chemosensory Event-Related Potentials in Long COVID-19 and Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Common Pathway?

People affected by the Long COVID-19 (LC) syndrome often show clinical manifestations that are similar to those observed in patients with mild cognitive impairments (MCI), such as olfactory dysfunction (OD), brain fog, and cognitive and attentional diseases. This study aimed to investigate the chemosensory-evoked related potentials (CSERP) in LC and MCI to understand if there is a common pathway for the similarity of symptoms associated with these disorders. Eighteen LC patients (mean age 53; s.d. = 7), 12 patients diagnosed with MCI (mean age 67; s.d. = 6), and 10 healthy control subjects (mean age 66; s.d. = 5, 7) were recruited for this exploratory study. All of them performed a chemosensory event-related potentials (CSERP) task with the administration of trigeminal stimulations (e.g., the odorants cinnamaldehyde and eucalyptus). Study results highlighted that MCI and LC showed reduced N1 amplitude, particularly in the left frontoparietal network, involved in working memory and attentional deficits, and a reduction of P3 latency in LC. This study lays the foundations for evaluating aspects of LC as a process that could trigger long-term functional alterations, and CSERPs could be considered valid biomarkers for assessing the progress of OD and an indicator of other impairments (e.g., attentional and cognitive impairments), as they occur in MCI

Lymphocyte subsets and the role of Th1/Th2 balance in stressed chronic pain patients

Background: The complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and fibromyalgia (FM) are chronic pain syndromes occurring in highly stressed individuals. Despite the known connection between the nervous system and immune cells, information on distribution of lymphocyte subsets under stress and pain conditions is limited. Methods: We performed a comparative study in 15 patients with CRPS type I, 22 patients with FM and 37 age- and sex-matched healthy controls and investigated the influence of pain and stress on lymphocyte number, subpopulations and the Th1/Th2 cytokine ratio in T lymphocytes. Results: Lymphocyte numbers did not differ between groups. Quantitative analyses of lymphocyte subpopulations showed a significant reduction of cytotoxic CD8+ lymphocytes in both CRPS (p < 0.01) and FM (p < 0.05) patients as compared with healthy controls. Additionally, CRPS patients were characterized by a lower percentage of IL-2-producing T cell subpopulations reflecting a diminished Th1 response in contrast to no changes in the Th2 cytokine profile. Conclusions: Future studies are warranted to answer whether such immunological changes play a pathogenetic role in CRPS and FM or merely reflect the consequences of a pain-induced neurohumoral stress response, and whether they contribute to immunosuppression in stressed chronic pain patients. Copyright (c) 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel

Connections of the corticomedial amygdala in the golden hamster. I. Efferents of the “vomeronasal amygdala”

The medial (M) and posteromedial cortical (C3) amygdaloid nuclei and the nucleus of the accessory olfactory tract (NAOT) are disignated the “vomeronasal amygdala” because they are the only components of the amygdala to receive a direct projection from the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB). The efferents of M and C3 were traced after injections of 3 H-proline into the amygdala in male golden hamsters. Frozen sections of the brains were processed for autoradiography. The efferents of the “vomeronasal amygdala” are largely to areas which are primary and secondary terminal areas along the vomeronasal pathway, although the efferents from C3 and M terminate in different layers in these areas than do the projections from the vomeronasal nerve or the AOB. Specifically, C3 projects ipsilaterally to the internal granule cell layer of the AOB, the cellular layer of NAOT, and layer lb of M. Additional fibers from C3 terminate in a retrocommissural component of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) bilaterally, and in the cellular layers of the contralateral C3. The medial nucleus projects to the cellular layer of the ipsilateral NAOT, layer lb of C3, and bilaterally to the medial component of BNST. Projections from M to non-vomeronasal areas terminate in the medial preoptic area-anterior hypothalamic junction, ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus, ventral premammillary nucleus and possibly in the ventral subiculum. These results demonstrate reciprocal connections between primary and secondary vomeronasal areas and between the secondary areas themselves. They suggest that M, but not C3, projects to areas outside this vomeronasal network. The medial amygdaloid nucleus is therefore an important link between the vomeronasal organ and areas of the brain not receiving direct vomeronasal input.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/50012/1/901970107_ftp.pd