Search results for "ICEP"
showing 10 items of 423 documents
The Adequate Stimulus
2008
The term adequate stimulus describes that class of environmental phenomena that requires the least amount of energy to elicit a percept mediated by a particular sensory system, implying that the receptive organs of that sensory system are specialized to detect those phenomena. It was difficult to transfer this concept to the perception of pain and to the nociceptive system. Many different stimuli may cause pain (pin prick, burn injury, freeze injury, inflammation, etc.), none of which needs particularly low amounts of energy. The common denominator of those stimuli is that they threaten to cause tissue damage (in Greek: νoξη Noxe). Hence the adequate stimulus to elicit pain is traditionally…
First Report of Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia microti in Rodents in Finland
2014
Tick-borne diseases pose an increasingly important public health problem in Europe. Rodents are the reservoir host for many tick-transmitted pathogens, including Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia microti, which can cause human granulocytic anaplasmosis and babesiosis, respectively. To estimate the presence of these pathogens in rodents in Finland, we examined blood samples from 151 bank voles (Myodes glareolus) and demonstrate, for the first time, that A. phagocytophilum and B. microti commonly infect bank voles (in 22% and 40% of animals, respectively) in Finland. Sequence analysis of a fragment of 18S rRNA showed that the B. microti strain isolated was identical to the Munich strain, …
Chapter 33 Experimental human models of neuropathic pain
2006
Publisher Summary This chapter reviews human surrogate models of neuropathic pain that focus on the mechanisms of symptom generation. A vast array of human surrogate models exists for ongoing symptoms, for positive sensory symptoms, and for sensory loss. The chapter discusses that by design, human surrogate models of neuropathic pain involve a reversible modulation of the properties of the nociceptive system such as its acute plasticity (phase 2). They usually do not create a long-lasting and potentially irreversible modification (phase 3). The denervation and ectopic activity of phase 3 can be modeled to a certain extent by transient nerve compression–ischemia and by topical capsaicin. By …
Intestinal helminth communities of the long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas) off the Faroe Islands.
1993
SUMMARYThe intestines of 170 long-finned pilot whales, Globicephala melas, caught off the Faroe Islands (N.E. Atlantic) were examined for helminth parasites. Eight species were detected but only 4 occurred in at least 10% of the sample. No core or recurrent group of species were identified and no correlations between abundances of species were significant. Diversity values were far below those reported for other endotherms. Colonization by helminths was random, whales not being readily colonized. These features point to largely unpredictable, isolationist infracommunities, there being little potential for inter-specific interactions. Older hosts tended to harbour more diverse infracommuniti…
Human brain mechanisms of pain perception and regulation in health and disease
2005
Context: The perception of pain due to an acute injury or in clinical pain states undergoes substantial processing at supraspinal levels. Supraspinal, brain mechanisms are increasingly recognized as playing a major role in the representation and modulation of pain experience. These neural mechanisms may then contribute to interindividual variations and disabilities associated with chronic pain conditions. Objective: To systematically review the literature regarding how activity in diverse brain regions creates and modulates the experience of acute and chronic pain states, emphasizing the contribution of various imaging techniques to emerging concepts. Data Sources: MEDLINE and PRE-MEDLINE s…
Distribution of Pholeter gastrophilus (Digenea) within the stomach of four odontocete species: the role of the diet and digestive physiology of hosts
2005
We compared the distribution of the digenean Pholeter gastrophilus in the stomach of 27 harbour porpoises, Phocoena phocoena, 27 striped dolphins, Stenella coeruleoalba, 18 bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, and 100 long-finned pilot whales, Globicephala melas. The stomach of these species is composed of 4 chambers of different size, structure and function. In all species, P. gastrophilus was largely restricted to the glandular region of the stomach, but the parasite tended to favour the fundic chamber in bottlenose dolphins and harbour porpoises, the pyloric chamber in pilot whales, and none in striped dolphins. However, predictability at infrapopulation level was generally low, sugg…
The effects of ergot and non-ergot-derived dopamine agonists in an experimental mouse model of endometriosis
2011
Implantation of a retrogradely shed endometrium during menstruation requires an adequate blood supply, which allows the growth of endometriotic lesions. This suggests that the development of endometriosis can be impaired by inhibiting angiogenesis. The growth of endometriotic foci is impaired by commercial oncological antiangiogenic drugs used to block vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling. The dopamine agonist cabergoline (Cb2) inhibits the growth of established endometriosis lesions by exerting antiangiogenic effects through VEGFR2 inactivation. However, the use of ergot-derived Cb2 is associated with an increased incidence of cardiac valve regurgitation. To evaluate the pot…
Antinociceptive effects of an extract, fraction and an isolated compound of the stem bark of Maytenus rigida
2012
The antinociceptive activity of the Maytenus rigida Mart. (Celastraceae) ethanol extract and its ethyl acetate fraction as well as of (-)-4'-methylepigallocatechin (1), a previously isolated compound, was demonstrated in vivo. ED50 for 1 in the writhing test was 14.14 mg/kg. The acetic acid-induced writhing was inhibited by 98.4, 84.4, and 58.3%, respectively, when mice were treated with the ethanol extract, ethyl acetate fraction, and 1. In the hot plate test, mice pretreated with 1 showed significantly increased reaction times (60-89%). Oral administration of 1 significantly inhibited first and second phases of the formalin-induced pain (50 and 26.5%, respectively), whereas indomethacin i…
Neck Pain Rehabilitation
2016
Neck pain is par excellence one of the most common disorders of the musculoskeletal system, second only to low back pain. It constitutes 40 % of all backache. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain of cervical origin coming from an area between the nuchal line and another imagi-nary line that passes through the lower end of the spinous process of the first thoracic vertebra and the sagittal plans tangent to the side edges of the neck. This definition considers therefore posterior pain which in turn can be divided into high pain, up to C3, and lower pain, down from C4. Also, as all diseases, it can be divided into acute and chronic neck pain, merely according…
Histone post-translational modifications as potential therapeutic targets for pain management
2021
Effective pharmacological management of pain associated with tissue pathology is an unmet medical need. Transcriptional modifications in nociceptive pathways are pivotal for the development and the maintenance of pain associated with tissue damage. Accumulating evidence has shown the importance of the epigenetic control of transcription in nociceptive pathways via histone post-translational modifications (PTMs). Hence, histone PTMs could be targets for novel effective analgesics. Here, we discuss the current understanding of histone PTMs in the modulation of gene expression affecting nociception and pain phenotypes following tissue injury. We also provide a critical view of the translationa…