Int J Med Sci
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Pain plays roles in both the nervous system and immune system. Changes in the neuroendocrine pathway under pain conditions give rise to sympathetic outflow with increased plasma catecholamines and activate immune reactions. Dexmedetomidine exerts sedative, analgesic, and anesthetic-sparing effects and is known to diminish pro-inflammatory processes by central sympatholytic effects. To investigate the influence of the analgesic effect of dexmedetomidine on immunomodulation under pain conditions, splenic natural killer (NK) tumoricidal cytotoxic activity, proliferative ability of T lymphocytes, and cytokine changes were assessed. ⋯ Dexmedetomidine showed antinociceptive effect on both of acute pain phase 1 and hyperalgesic phase 2 of formalin pain model. Formalin-induced pain alters cellular immunity of spleen in mice. Dexmedetomidine attenuates the activation of NK cells under pain condition, but neither the proliferative response of the splenic lymphocytes nor the cytokine production was affected by dexmedetomidine.
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Quercetin has been demonstrated to play an important role in altering the progression of ischemic brain injuries and neurodegenerative diseases by protecting against oxidative stress. The effects of quercetin on brain damage after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), however, have not been investigated. This study was designed to explore the effects of quercetin on oxidative stress and brain edema after experimental SAH using four equal groups (n = 16) of adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, including a sham group, an SAH + vehicle group, an SAH + quercetin10 group, and an SAH + quercetin50 group. ⋯ Treatment with a high dose (50 mg/kg) of quercetin markedly enhanced the activities of copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (CuZn-SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and treatment with this dose significantly reduced the level of malondialdehyde (MDA). Caspase-3 and brain edema was ameliorated and neurobehavioral deficits improved in rats that received the high dose of quercetin. The findings suggest that the early administration of optimal dose of quercetin may ameliorate brain damage and provide neuroprotection in the SAH model, potentially by enhancing the activity of endogenous antioxidant enzymes and inhibiting free radical generation.
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Review Meta Analysis Comparative Study
A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials and prospective studies comparing covered and bare self-expandable metal stents for the treatment of malignant obstruction in the digestive tract.
Self-expandable metal stents (SEMS) are widely used for the palliative treatment of malignant gastrointestinal obstruction. Our aim was to evaluate the evidence comparing covered and bare SEMS in the digestive tract using meta-analytical techniques. ⋯ Both covered and bare SEMS are comparable in efficacy for the palliative treatment of malignant obstruction in the digestive tract. Each type of the stents has its own merit and demerit relatively.