Myofascial trigger points in cluster headache patients: a case series

Active myofascial trigger points (MTrPs) have been found to contribute to chronic tension-type headache and migraine. The purpose of this case series was to examine if active trigger points (TrPs) provoking cluster-type referred pain could be found in cluster headache patients and, if so, to evaluate the effectiveness of active TrPs anaesthetic injections both in the acute and preventive headache's treatment. Twelve patients, 4 experiencing episodic and 8 chronic cluster headache, were studied. TrPs were found in all of them. Abortive infiltrations could be done in 2 episodic and 4 chronic patients, and preemptive infiltrations could be done in 2 episodic and 5 chronic patients, both kind of interventions being successful in 5 (83.3%) and in 6 (85.7%) of the cases respectively. When combined with prophylactic drug therapy, injections were associated with significant improvement in 7 of the 8 chronic cluster patients. Our data suggest that peripheral sensitization may play a role in cluster headache pathophysiology and that first neuron afferent blockade can be useful in cluster headache management

Trazodone plus pregabalin combination in the treatment of fibromyalgia: a two-phase, 24-week, open-label uncontrolled study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although trazodone is frequently used by fibromyalgia patients, its efficacy on this disease has not been adequately studied. If effective, pregabalin, whose beneficial effects on pain and sleep quality in fibromyalgia have been demonstrated, could complement the antidepressant and anxiolytic effects of trazodone. The aim of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of trazodone alone and in combination with pregabalin in the treatment of fibromyalgia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was an open-label uncontrolled study. Trazodone, flexibly dosed (50-300 mg/day), was administered to 66 fibromyalgia patients during 12 weeks; 41 patients who completed the treatment accepted to receive pregabalin, also flexibly dosed (75-450 mg/day), added to trazodone treatment for an additional 12-week period. Outcome measures included the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the Patients' Global Improvement scale (PGI). Emergent adverse reactions were recorded. Data were analyzed with repeated measures one-way ANOVA and paired Student's t test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Treatment with trazodone significantly improved global fibromyalgia severity, sleep quality, and depression, as well as pain interference with daily activities although without showing a direct effect on bodily pain. After pregabalin combination additional and significant improvements were seen on fibromyalgia severity, depression and pain interference with daily activities, and a decrease in bodily pain was also apparent. During the second phase of the study, only two patients dropped out due to side effects.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Trazodone significantly improved fibromyalgia severity and associated symptomatology. Its combination with pregabalin potentiated this improvement and the tolerability of the drugs in association was good.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00791739">NCT00791739</a></p

Moving carbon between spheres, the potential oxalate-carbonate pathway of Brosimum alicastrum Sw.; Moraceae.

Aims The Oxalate-Carbonate Pathway (OCP) is a biogeochemical process that transfers atmospheric CO2 into the geologic reservoir as CaCO3; however, until now all investigations on this process have focused on species with limited food benefits. This study evaluates a potential OCP associated with Brosimum alicastrum, a Neotropical species with agroforestry potential (ca. 70–200 kg-nuts yr−1), in the calcareous soils of Haiti and Mexico. Methods / results Enzymatic analysis demonstrated significant concentrations of calcium oxalate (5.97 % D.W.) were associated with B. alicastrum tissue in all sample sites. The presence of oxalotrophism was also confirmed with microbiological analyses in both countries. High concentrations of total calcium (>7 g kg−1) and lithogenic carbonate obscured the localised alkalinisation and identification of secondary carbonate associated with the OCP at most sample sites, except Ma Rouge, Haiti. Soils adjacent to subjects in Ma Rouge demonstrated an increase in pH (0.63) and CaCO3 concentration (5.9 %) that, when coupled with root-like secondary carbonate deposits in Mexico, implies that the OCP does also occur in calcareous soils. Conclusions Therefore this study confirms that the OCP also occurs in calcareous soils, adjacent to B. alicastrum, and could play a fundamental and un-accounted role in the global calcium-carbon coupled cycle

PINCH1 Is Transcriptional Regulator in Podocytes That Interacts with WT1 and Represses Podocalyxin Expression

Background: PINCH1, an adaptor protein containing five LIM domains, plays an important role in regulating the integrin-mediated cell adhesion, migration and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. PINCH1 is induced in the fibrotic kidney after injury, and it primarily localizes at the sites of focal adhesion. Whether it can translocate to the nucleus and directly participate in gene regulation is completely unknown. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using cultured glomerular podocytes as a model system, we show that PINCH1 expression was induced by TGF-β1, a fibrogenic cytokine that promotes podocyte dysfunction. Interestingly, increased PINCH1 not only localized at the sites of focal adhesions, but also underwent nuclear translocation after TGF-β1 stimulation. This nuclear translocation of PINCH1 was apparently dependent on the putative nuclear export/localization signals (NES/NLS) at its C-terminus, as deletion or site-directed mutations abolished its nuclear shuttling. Co-immunoprecipitation and pull-down experiments revealed that PINCH1 interacted with Wilms tumor 1 protein (WT1), a nuclear transcription factor that is essential for regulating podocyte-specific gene expression in adult kidney. Interaction of PINCH1 and WT1 was mediated by the LIM1 domain of PINCH1 and C-terminal zinc-finger domain of WT1, which led to the suppression of the WT1-mediated podocalyxin expression in podocytes. PINCH1 also repressed podocalyxin gene transcription in a promoter-luciferase reporter assay. Conclusion/Significance: These results indicate that PINCH1 can shuttle into the nucleus from cytoplasm in podocytes, wherein it interacts with WT1 and suppresses podocyte-specific gene expression. Our studies reveal a previously unrecognized, novel function of PINCH1, in which it acts as a transcriptional regulator through controlling specific gene expression. © 2011 Wang et al

Tetrahymena Metallothioneins Fall into Two Discrete Subfamilies

BACKGROUND: Metallothioneins are ubiquitous small, cysteine-rich, multifunctional proteins which can bind heavy metals. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We report the results of phylogenetic and gene expression analyses that include two new Tetrahymena thermophila metallothionein genes (MTT3 and MTT5). Sequence alignments of all known Tetrahymena metallothioneins have allowed us to rationalize the structure of these proteins. We now formally subdivide the known metallothioneins from the ciliate genus Tetrahymena into two well defined subfamilies, 7a and 7b, based on phylogenetic analysis, on the pattern of clustering of Cys residues, and on the pattern of inducibility by the heavy metals Cd and Cu. Sequence alignment also reveals a remarkably regular, conserved and hierarchical modular structure of all five subfamily 7a MTs, which include MTT3 and MTT5. The former has three modules, while the latter has only two. Induction levels of the three T. thermophila genes were determined using quantitative real time RT-PCR. Various stressors (including heavy metals) brought about dramatically different fold-inductions for each gene; MTT5 showed the highest fold-induction. Conserved DNA motifs with potential regulatory significance were identified, in an unbiased way, upstream of the start codons of subfamily 7a MTs. EST evidence for alternative splicing in the 3′ UTR of the MTT5 mRNA with potential regulatory activity is reported. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The small number and remarkably regular structure of Tetrahymena MTs, coupled with the experimental tractability of this model organism for studies of in vivo function, make it an attractive system for the experimental dissection of the roles, structure/function relationships, regulation of gene expression, and adaptive evolution of these proteins, as well as for the development of biotechnological applications for the environmental monitoring of toxic substances

MicroRNA degradation by a conserved target RNA regulates animal behavior

International audiencemicroRNAs (miRNAs) repress target transcripts through partial complementarity. By contrast, highly complementary miRNA-binding sites within viral and artificially engineered transcripts induce miRNA degradation in vitro and in cell lines. Here, we show that a genome-encoded transcript harboring a near-perfect and deeply conserved miRNA-binding site for miR-29 controls zebrafish and mouse behavior. This transcript originated in basal vertebrates as a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) and evolved to the protein-coding gene NREP in mammals, where the miR-29-binding site is located within the 3′ UTR. We show that the near-perfect miRNA site selectively triggers miR-29b destabilization through 3′ trimming and restricts its spatial expression in the cerebellum. Genetic disruption of the miR-29 site within mouse Nrep results in ectopic expression of cerebellar miR-29b and impaired coordination and motor learning. Thus, we demonstrate an endogenous target-RNA-directed miRNA degradation event and its requirement for animal behavio

Harnessing the potential of ligninolytic enzymes for lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment

Abundant lignocellulosic biomass from various industries provides a great potential feedstock for the production of value-added products such as biofuel, animal feed, and paper pulping. However, low yield of sugar obtained from lignocellulosic hydrolysate is usually due to the presence of lignin that acts as a protective barrier for cellulose and thus restricts the accessibility of the enzyme to work on the cellulosic component. This review focuses on the significance of biological pretreatment specifically using ligninolytic enzymes as an alternative method apart from the conventional physical and chemical pretreatment. Different modes of biological pretreatment are discussed in this paper which is based on (i) fungal pretreatment where fungi mycelia colonise and directly attack the substrate by releasing ligninolytic enzymes and (ii) enzymatic pretreatment using ligninolytic enzymes to counter the drawbacks of fungal pretreatment. This review also discusses the important factors of biological pretreatment using ligninolytic enzymes such as nature of the lignocellulosic biomass, pH, temperature, presence of mediator, oxygen, and surfactant during the biodelignification process

Molecular psychiatry of zebrafish

Due to their well-characterized neural development and high genetic homology to mammals, zebrafish (Danio rerio) have emerged as a powerful model organism in the field of biological psychiatry. Here, we discuss the molecular psychiatry of zebrafish, and its implications for translational neuroscience research and modeling central nervous system (CNS) disorders. In particular, we outline recent genetic and technological developments allowing for in vivo examinations, high-throughput screening and whole-brain analyses in larval and adult zebrafish. We also summarize the application of these molecular techniques to the understanding of neuropsychiatric disease, outlining the potential of zebrafish for modeling complex brain disorders, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), aggression, post-traumatic stress and substance abuse. Critically evaluating the advantages and limitations of larval and adult fish tests, we suggest that zebrafish models become a rapidly emerging new field in modern molecular psychiatry research

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

Meeting abstrac