Journal of oral science
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The outbreak of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread worldwide. Nasopharyngeal swabs are widely used in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to detect SARS-CoV-2. ⋯ The usefulness of saliva screening tests is compared to conventional swab tests in this report. The results suggest that saliva could be a reliable sample for detecting SARS-CoV-2.
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Journal of oral science · Jan 2020
Multi-dimensional role of the parabrachial nucleus in regulating pain-related affective disturbances in trigeminal neuropathic pain.
Neuropathic pain is characterized by sensory abnormalities, such as mechanical allodynia and heat hyperalgesia, associated with alteration in the peripheral and central nervous systems. After trigeminal nerve injury, phenotypic changes that involve the expression of calcitonin gene-related peptide occur in large- and medium-sized myelinated neurons; primary afferent neurons exhibit hyperexcitability because of neuron-glia interactions in the trigeminal ganglion. Increased nociceptive inputs from C- and Aδ-fiber and innocuous inputs from Aβ-fiber into the trigeminal spinal subnucleus caudalis (Vc) contribute to the phenotypic changes; further, they potentiate noxious information transmission in the ascending nociceptive pathways to the thalamus and parabrachial nucleus (PBN). ⋯ The Vc-PBN pathways project to the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) where affective behaviors are modulated. In addition, the PBN interacts with wakefulness-regulating neurons and hunger-sensitive neurons in the hypothalamus, suggesting that the Vc-PBN pathway can modulate sleep and appetite. Therefore, phenotypic changes in primary neurons and stimulus modality-specific activation of ascending nociceptive pathways to the PBN may exacerbate affective aspects of trigeminal neuropathic pain, including behavioral problems, such as sleep disturbance and anorexia, via the PBN-CeA-hypothalamus circuits.