Critical care medicine
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2013
Peripheral neural detection of danger-associated and pathogen-associated molecular patterns.
Bidirectional links between the nervous and immune systems modulate inflammation. The cellular mechanisms underlying the detection of danger-associated molecular patterns and pathogen-associated molecular patterns by the nervous system are not well understood. We hypothesized that the carotid body, a tissue of neural crest origin, detect pathogen associated molecular patterns and danger associated molecular patterns via an inflammasome-dependent mechanism similar to that described in immune cells. ⋯ In carotid body chemosensitive glomus cells, activation of toll-like receptors increases NLRP3 inflammasome expression, and enhances IL-1β production, which is capable of acting in an autocrine manner to enhance peripheral chemoreceptor drive.
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2013
Editorial CommentAre advance directives useful in acute stroke?*.
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Critical care medicine · Jun 2013
Editorial CommentMonitoring breathing effort: a work in progress*.