Scientific reports
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According to previous studies, the clinical course of sepsis could be affected by preexisting medical conditions, which are very common among patients with sepsis. This observational study aimed at investigating whether common chronic medical conditions affect the 90-day mortality risk in adult Caucasian patients with sepsis. A total of 482 patients with sepsis were enrolled in this study. ⋯ Patients with CKD had higher SOFA scores than patients without CKD (8.9 ± 4.0 and 6.5 ± 3.4, respectively; p < 0.0001). Additionally, an analysis of organ-specific SOFA scores revealed higher scores in three organ systems (kidney, cardiovascular and coagulation). Patients with CKD have the highest 90-day mortality risk compared with patients without CKD or with other chronic medical conditions.
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Our experience with the world is shaped not only directly through personal exposure but also indirectly through observing others and learning from their experiences. Using a conditioning paradigm, we investigated how directly and observationally learned information can affect pain perception, both consciously and non-consciously. ⋯ These results suggest that social observation can induce positive and negative pain modulation. Importantly, the fact that cues learned by observation and activated non-consciously still produced a robust conditioning effect that withstood extinction highlights the role of indirect exposure in placebo and nocebo effects.
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Potential analgesic effects of a novel N-acylethanolamine acid amidase inhibitor F96 through PPAR-α.
Pharmacological blockade of N-acylethanolamine acid amidase (NAAA) activity is an available approach for inflammation and pain control through restoring the ability of endogenous PEA. But the recently reported NAAA inhibitors suffer from the chemical and biological unstable properties, which restrict functions of NAAA inhibition in vivo. It is still unrevealed whether systematic inhibition of NAAA could modulate PEA-mediated pain signalings. ⋯ Pharmacological effects of F96 (10 mg/kg, i.p.) on various animal models were abolished in PPAR-α(-/-) mice, and were prevented by PPAR-α antagonist MK886 but not by canabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) antagonist Rimonabant nor canabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) antagonist SR144528. Zebrafish embryos experiments showed better security and lower toxicity for F96 than ibuprofen. These results revealed that F96 might be useful in treating inflammatory and neuropathic pain by NAAA inhibition depending on PPAR-α receptors.
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Acute kidney injury (AKI) is one of the most relevant health issues, leading to millions of deaths. The magnitude of the phenomenon remarks the urgent need for innovative and effective therapeutic approaches. Cell-based therapy with renal progenitor cells (RPCs) has been proposed as a possible strategy. ⋯ However, the functional activity of iPSC-derived RPCs has not been tested in animal models of kidney disease. Here, through an efficient inductive protocol, we directed human iPSCs towards RPCs that robustly engrafted into damaged tubuli and restored renal function and structure in cisplatin-mice with AKI. These results demonstrate that iPSCs are a valuable source of engraftable cells with regenerative activity for kidney disease and create the basis for future applications in stem cell-based therapy.