The effect of palonosetron on rocuronium-induced withdrawal movement

AbstractBackgroundRocuronium causes pain and withdrawal movement during induction of anesthesia. In this study, palonosetron was investigated to have analgesic effect on the reduction of rocuronium-induced withdrawal movement.Methods120 patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups to receive either saline, lidocaine 20mg, or palonosetron 0.075mg with a tourniquet applied two minutes before thiopental sodium (5mg·kg−1) was given intravenously. After loss of consciousness, rocuronium (0.6mg·kg−1) was injected and the withdrawal movement was estimated by 4-point scale in a double-blind manner.ResultsThe overall incidence of rocuronium withdrawal movement was 50% with lidocaine (p=0.038), 38% with palonosetron (p=0.006) compared with 75% for saline. The incidence of no pain to mild pain was significantly lower in the lidocaine and palonosetron groups (85% and 92% respectively) than in the saline group (58%). However, there was no significant difference in withdrawal movement between the lidocaine and palonosetron groups. There was no severe movement with palonosetron.ConclusionPretreatment of palonosetron with venous occlusion may attenuate rocuronium-induced withdrawal movement as effective as the use of lidocaine. It suggested that peripheral action of palonosetron was effective to reduce rocuronium-induced withdrawal movement

β-Caryophyllene attenuates dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis in mice via modulation of gene expression associated mainly with colon inflammation

AbstractWe examined the modulatory activity of β-caryophyllene (CA) and gene expression in colitic colon tissues in a dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis model. Experimental colitis was induced by exposing male BALB/c mice to 5% DSS in drinking water for 7 days. CA (30 or 300mg/kg) was administered orally once a day together with DSS. CA administration attenuated the increases in the disease activity index, colon weight/length ratio, inflammation score, and myeloperoxidase activity in DSS-treated mice. Microarray analysis showed that CA administration regulated the expression in colon tissue of inflammation-related genes including those for cytokines and chemokines (Ccl2, Ccl7, Ccl11, Ifitm3, IL-1β, IL-28, Tnfrsf1b, Tnfrsf12a); acute-phase proteins (S100a8, Saa3, Hp); adhesion molecules (Cd14, Cd55, Cd68, Mmp3, Mmp10, Sema6b, Sema7a, Anax13); and signal regulatory proteins induced by DSS. CA significantly suppressed NF-κB activity, which mediates the expression of a different set of genes. These results suggest that CA attenuates DSS-induced colitis, possibly by modulating the expression of genes associated mainly with colon inflammation through inhibition of DSS-induced NF-κB activity

Toxicological Study on MUNOPHIL, Water Extract of Panax ginseng and Hericium erinaceum in Rats

AbstractObjectiveAs data on the safety profile of Panax ginseng and Hericium erinaceum is lacking, the safety of these two compounds was examined in a series of toxicological studies.Materials and MethodsMUNOPHIL, the water extract mixture of Panax ginseng and Hericium erinaceum was tested in an oral subchronic 28-day toxicity study in rats at doses of 1250, 2500 and 5000 mg/kg/day.ResultsIn repeated dose toxicity studies, no mortality was observed when varying doses of the extracts were administered once daily for a period of 28 days. There were no significant differences in body weight, absolute and relative organ weights between controls and treated rats of both sexes. Hematological analysis showed no differences in most parameters examined. In the biochemistry parameter analysis, no significant change occurred. Pathologically, neither gross abnormalities nor his-topathological changes were observed. Therefore, MUNOPHIL appears to be safe and non-toxic in these studies and a no-observed adverse effect level in rats was established at 5000 mg/kg/day.ConclusionThe data could provide satisfactory preclinical evidence of safety to launch clinical trials on standardized formulation of plant extracts

Positional vertigo afterwards maxillary dental implant surgery with bone regeneration

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is the most common form of vertigo. It is caused by loose otoconia from the utricle which, in certain positions, displaced the cupula of the posterior semicircular canal. BPPV most often is a result of aging. It also can occur after a blow to the head. Less common causes include a prolonged positioning on the back (supine) during some surgical procedures. Additionally one can include in this ethiopathogenesis the positioning required during the maxillary dental implant surgery with bone regeneration related to a forced head positioning and inner ear trauma induced by dental turbine noise working in the maxillary bone. Two cases of patients who suffered BPPV after undergoing maxillary dental implant with bone regeneration procedures are reported. Diagnosis and treatment are also described

Combined Effects of Surface Morphology and Mechanical Straining Magnitudes on the Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells without Using Biochemical Reagents

Existing studies examining the control of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation into desired cell types have used a variety of biochemical reagents such as growth factors despite possible side effects. Recently, the roles of biomimetic microphysical environments have drawn much attention in this field. We studied MSC differentiation and changes in gene expression in relation to osteoblast-like cell and smooth muscle-like cell type resulting from various microphysical environments, including differing magnitudes of tensile strain and substrate geometries for 8 days. In addition, we also investigated the residual effects of those selected microphysical environment factors on the differentiation by ceasing those factors for 3 days. The results of this study showed the effects of the strain magnitudes and surface geometries. However, the genes which are related to the same cell type showed different responses depending on the changes in strain magnitude and surface geometry. Also, different responses were observed three days after the straining was stopped. These data confirm that controlling microenvironments so that they mimic those in vivo contributes to the differentiation of MSCs into specific cell types. And duration of straining engagement was also found to play important roles along with surface geometry

Comparative Analysis With Modified Inclined Technique for Posterior Endoscopic Cervical Foraminotomy in Treating Cervical Osseous Foraminal Stenosis: Radiological and Midterm Clinical Outcomes

Objective We compared the midterm clinical and radiological outcomes between 2 types of full endoscopic posterior cervical foraminotomy, including conventional posterior endoscopic cervical foraminotomy (PECF) and modified inclined technique for PECF. Methods One of the 2 types of PECF surgery was performed for defined cervical foraminal stenosis. The foraminal expansion ratio and facet resection rate and foraminal stenosis grade were measured using magnetic resonance imaging. Visual analogue scale (VAS) scores for neck and arm pain, neck disability index, MacNab criteria, operation time, hospital stay, and complications, including postoperative dysesthesia, were assessed. Clinical and radiological parameters were compared between the 2 surgical groups. Results There were 49 and 46 patients in the PECF and modified-PECF groups, respectively. The modified-PECF group showed significantly higher expansion of distal foraminal diameter and foraminal height, and a lower facet resection rate compared to PECF group (in all, p<0.001). The modified-PECF group displayed significantly lower VAS score for neck pain at 1 day and 1 week after surgery and lower arm pain VAS score after 6-month follow-up (p=0.002, p=0.001, p=0.002, respectively). Conclusion Compared with the PECF, the modified inclined technique has radiologic benefits, including enhanced facet joint preservation, restoration of the natural course of nerve roots, and prevention of restenosis by expanding the superior articular process base, especially in grade 2 foraminal stenosis. Furthermore, the modified inclined technique significantly improved the postoperative VAS score for neck pain within the 1-week follow-up and that of arm pain after 6-month follow-up

PMC-12, a Prescription of Traditional Korean Medicine, Improves Amyloid β

PMC-12 is a prescription used in traditional Korean medicine that consists of a mixture of four herbal medicines, Polygonum multiflorum, Rehmannia glutinosa, Polygala tenuifolia, and Acorus gramineus, which have been reported to have various pharmacological effects on age-related neurological diseases. In the present study, we investigated whether PMC-12 improves cognitive deficits associated with decreased neuroinflammation in an amyloid-β-(Aβ-) induced mouse model and exerts the antineuroinflammatory effects in lipopolysaccharide-(LPS-) stimulated murine BV2 microglia. Intracerebroventricular injection of Aβ25-35 in mice resulted in impairment in learning and spatial memory, whereas this was reversed by oral administration of PMC-12 (100 and 500 mg/kg/day) in dose-dependent manners. Moreover, PMC-12 reduced the increase of Aβ expression and activation of microglia and astrocytes in the Aβ25-35-injected brain. Furthermore, quantitative PCR data showed that inflammatory mediators were significantly decreased by administration of PMC-12 in Aβ-injected brains. Consistent with the in vivo data, PMC-12 significantly reduced the inflammatory mediators in LPS-stimulated BV2 cells without cell toxicity. Moreover, PMC-12 exhibited anti-inflammatory properties via downregulation of ERK, JNK, and p38 MAPK pathways. These findings suggest that the protective effects of PMC-12 may be mediated by its antineuroinflammatory activities, resulting in the attenuation of memory impairment; accordingly, PMC-12 may be useful in the prevention and treatment of AD

SNP@Promoter: A database of human SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) within putative promoter region.

Background: Analysis of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is becoming a key research in genomics fields. Many functional analyses of SNPs have been carried out for coding regions and splicing sites that can alter proteins and mRNA splicing. However, SNPs in non-coding regulatory regions can also influence important biological regulation. Presently, there are few databases for SNPs in non-coding regulatory regions. Description: We identified 488,452 human SNPs in the putative promoter regions that extended from the +5000 bp to -500 bp region of the transcription start sites. Some SNPs occurring in transcription factor (TF) binding sites were also predicted (47,832 SNP; 9.8%). The result is stored in a database: SNP@promoter. Users can search the SNP@Promoter database using three entries: 1) by SNP identifier (rs number from dbSNP), 2) by gene (gene name, gene symbol, refSeq ID), and 3) by disease term. The SNP@Promoter database provides extensive genetic information and graphical views of queried terms. Conclusion: We present the SNP@Promoter database. It was created in order to predict functional SNPs in putative promoter regions and predicted transcription factor binding sites. SNP@Promoter will help researchers to identify functional SNPs in non-coding regionsclose353

Microporation is a valuable transfection method for efficient gene delivery into human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are an attractive source of adult stem cells for therapeutic application in clinical study. Genetic modification of MSCs with beneficial genes makes them more effective for therapeutic use. However, it is difficult to transduce genes into MSCs by common transfection methods, especially nonviral methods. In this study, we applied microporation technology as a novel electroporation technique to introduce enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) and brain-derived neurotropfic factor (BDNF) plasmid DNA into human umbilical cord blood-derived MSCs (hUCB-MSCs) with significant efficiency, and investigated the stem cell potentiality of engineered MSCs through their phenotypes, proliferative capacity, ability to differentiate into multiple lineages, and migration ability towards malignant glioma cells.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using microporation with EGFP as a reporter gene, hUCB-MSCs were transfected with higher efficiency (83%) and only minimal cell damage than when conventional liposome-based reagent (<20%) or established electroporation methods were used (30-40%). More importantly, microporation did not affect the immunophenotype of hUCB-MSCs, their proliferation activity, ability to differentiate into mesodermal and ectodermal lineages, or migration ability towards cancer cells. In addition, the BDNF gene could be successfully transfected into hUCB-MSCs, and BDNF expression remained fairly constant for the first 2 weeks <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo</it>. Moreover, microporation of BDNF gene into hUCB-MSCs promoted their <it>in vitro </it>differentiation into neural cells.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Taken together, the present data demonstrates the value of microporation as an efficient means of transfection of MSCs without changing their multiple properties. Gene delivery by microporation may enhance the feasibility of transgenic stem cell therapy.</p