Minerva anestesiologica
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Minerva anestesiologica · May 2006
ReviewMolecular biology on the ICU. From understanding to treating sepsis.
Mounting evidence suggests that beside well established factors, such as virulence of pathogens or site of infection, individual differences in disease manifestation are a result of the genetic predisposition of the patient on an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Specific genetic factors might not only predict the risk to acquire severe infections but also to develop organ dysfunction or ultimately to die. ⋯ Similarly, knowledge of genetic factors might in the near future help to identify ''patients at risk'', i.e. those with a high likelihood to develop organ dysfunction or to guide therapeutic interventions in particular regarding resource-consuming and/or expensive therapies (''theragnostics''). While therapeutic options in molecular intensive care medicine, such as stem cells in the treatment of organ failure or therapeutic gene transfer are possible along the road and might become an option in the future, recombinant DNA technology has already a well defined role in the production of recombinant human proteins from insulin to activated protein C.
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Minerva anestesiologica · May 2006
Comparative StudyAre hot-burning sensations produced by the axonal damage of afferent unmyelinated fibres?
Pain resulting from nerve lesions is classically referred to as a ''burning pain''. Both the axonal damage and sensitization of unmyelinated C-fibres have been considered as the possible generators of this sensation. The aim of this study was to verify the hypothesis that hot-burning sensations are produced by the axonal damage of afferent unmyelinated fibres in peripheral nerves. ⋯ This study does not confirm the hypothesis that hot-burning sensations are produced by the axonal damage of afferent amyelinated fibres in peripheral nerves. It agrees with clinical evidence suggesting that patients with different clinical conditions can complain of hot-burning sensations, independently of the presence of a nerve lesion.