Differential morphine tolerance development in the modulation of macrophage cytokine production in mice

Morphine has been shown to affect cell-mediated and humoral immune parameters. In this study, we investigated the capacity of in vivo acute and chronic morphine treatment to modulate interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-12 production by LPS and interferon-\u3b3-stimulated resident and thioglycollate-elicited murine peritoneal macrophages and the development of tolerance to these effects. One hour after the acute administration of 5, 10, and 20 mg/Kg morphine, a dose-related decrease of IL-10 and IL-12 levels was present. The pretreatment with naltrexone at doses up to 20 mg/Kg did not prevent the decrease of IL-10 and IL-12 induced by morphine. When the drug was administered chronically, a differential development of tolerance to the immune effects was observed. After 3 days of treatment, the effect of the acute challenge with 20 mg/Kg morphine on IL-12 was lost. In contrast, morphine-induced inhibition of IL-10 disappeared between 10 and 12 days of treatment, in parallel with tolerance to the antinociceptive effect. These results suggest that morphine treatment affects macrophage cytokine production and that tolerance affects this modulation differently

Decision Making in Gingival Recession Treatment : Scientific Evidence and Clinical Experience

Focused Clinical Question: What are the key considerations for selecting the best surgical approach in mucogingival plastic surgery? Summary: Treatment of gingival recession has become an important therapeutic issue due to the increasing number of cosmetic requests from patients. The dual goals of mucogingival treatment include complete root coverage, up to the cemento-enamel junction, and blending of tissue color between the treated area and non-treated adjacent tissues. Even though the connective tissue graft is commonly considered the "gold standard" for treatment of recession defects, it may not always be the best surgical option for every case. Conclusions: Under non-experimental conditions, all root coverage procedures may be effective in terms of complete root coverage and excellent esthetics. Careful analyses of patient- and defect-related factors, however, are key considerations prior to selecting an appropriate surgical technique

Selective induction of interleukin-12 in reconstructed human epidermis by chemical allergens

Keratinocytes play an important role in skin inflammatory and immunological reactions through the release of cytokines and response to them. These cells have been shown to direct T-cell priming by producing cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-12. The purpose of this work was to explore the potential use of IL-12 production to discriminate between skin irritants and contact allergens in vitro. Initially, a reconstituted human epidermis was treated with a known human skin irritant, sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), and a known human contact allergen, 1-chloro-2,4- dinitrobenzene (DNCB). The expression of IL-12p40 was assessed at specific time intervals by the semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (rt-PCR). The data obtained indicated that only DNCB induced an up-regulation of IL-12p40. This up-regulation occurred after exposure to DNCB for 3 hours. Importantly, the application of SLS or vehicles did not induce IL-12 mRNA up-regulation. An increase in total IL-12 protein content was detected in supernatants of allergen-stimulated, but not vehicle- stimulated, reconstituted epidermis. To confirm these results, the effects of benzalkonium chloride, oxazolone and eugenol were assessed. At concentrations that resulted in equivalent IL-1\u3b1 release, only contact allergens increased IL-12 expression, which confirmed the previous results. These data suggest that IL-12, which is crucial for T-helper type 1 cell responses, could be a useful marker for discriminating between contact allergens and irritants

The analgesic drug tramadol prevents the effect of surgery on natural killer cell activity and mettastatic colonization in rats

Surgery stress has been shown to be associated in rat with decreased natural killer (NK) cell activity and enhancement of tumor metastasis. We have previously shown that the analgesic drug tramadol stimulates NK activity both in the rodent and in the human. In the present study, we analyze, in the rat, tramadol ability to prevent the effect of experimental surgery on NK activity and on the enhancement of metastatic diffusion to the lung of the NK sensitive tumor model MADB106. The administration of tramadol (20 and 40 mg/kg) before and after laparatomy significantly blocked the enhancement of lung metastasis induced by surgery. In contrast, the administration of 10 mg/kg of morphine was not able to modify this enhancement. The modulation of NK activity seemed to play a central role in the effect of tramadol on MADB106 cells. In fact, both doses of tramadol were able to prevent surgery-induced NK activity suppression, while the drug significantly increased NK activity in normal non-operated animals. Morphine, that in normal rats significantly decreased NK cytotoxicity, did not prevent surgery-induced immunosuppression. The good analgesic efficacy of tramadol combined with its intrinsic immunostimulatory properties suggests that this analgesic drug can be particularly indicated in the control of peri-operative pain in cancer patients

Ripresa funzionale miografica dopo blocco chirurgico intermascellare

Lo scopo di questo lavoro \ue8 stato finalizzato all'analisi elettromiografica dei pazienti chirurgici disgnatici di terza classe prima e dopo l'atto operatorio. la programmazione del follow-up ha previsto l'ausilio di un elettromiografo con cui sono stati valutati gli equilibri neuromuscolari ad intervalli di tempo differenti, T0, T1 e T2. Il gruppo di studio selezionato includeva 36 pazienti, di entrambi i sessi. sono stati presi in considerazione due coppie di muscoli dell'apparato stomatognatico, i masseteri e i temporali. i risultati ottenuti nel monitoraggio dei soggetti esaminati, con questa metodica di indagine ci hanno permesso di elaborare una nuova indagine di supporto durante la terapia stessa. Tuttavia i dati riscontrati dal nostro lavoro vanno interpretati come preliminari e pertanto necessitano di ulteriori approfondimenti, in futuro sar\ue0 necessario confrontarci presumibilmente con altre scuole di pensiero o con nuove metodiche di indagine

Social status in mice: behavioral, endocrine and immune changes are context-dependent

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of social status on the endocrine, immune and behavior response of male mice. We found that in mice reared in a group of siblings since weaning, no difference exists between dominants and subordinates in basal corticosterone level, in behavior in the open-field test (OFT) and in a series of immune parameters. These results suggest that living with siblings is not a stressful condition for either dominant or subordinate mice. Therefore, group-housed siblings can be regarded as a valid control group in social stress studies. When mice were subjected to chronic psychosocial stress for 21 days, four types of social outcome occurred: residents becoming dominants, intruders becoming subordinates, residents becoming subordinates and intruders becoming dominants. Interestingly, the behavioral profile in the OFT revealed a status-dependent effect, with resident dominants (RD) and intruder dominants (InD) showing the highest locomotor and exploratory activity, whereas the corticosterone level was higher than control for all four categories. In addition, a context-dependent effect emerged at the immune level: resident subordinates (RS) had a reduced splenocyte proliferation and IL-4 and IL-10 production. Mice in all the other three social ranks showed no immune alterations. Therefore, the loss of an individual's social rank position seems a promising field of study to investigate the psychological impact of stressful events