BioMed research international
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Dry needling at distant myofascial trigger points is an effective pain management in patients with myofascial pain. However, the biochemical effects of remote dry needling are not well understood. This study evaluates the remote effects of dry needling with different dosages on the expressions of substance P (SP) in the proximal muscle, spinal dorsal horns of rabbits. ⋯ This remote effect of dry needling involves the reduction of SP levels in proximal muscle and spinal superficial laminaes, which may be closely associated with the control of myofascial pain.
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GABAB receptors regulate the intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in a number of cells (e.g., retina, airway epithelium and smooth muscle), but whether they are expressed in vascular endothelial cells and similarly regulate the [Ca2+]i is not known. The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of GABAB receptors, a subclass of receptors to the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), in cultured human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs), and to explore if altering receptor activation modified [Ca2+]i and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) translocation. Real-time PCR, western blots and immunofluorescence were used to determine the expression of GABAB1 and GABAB2 in cultured HAECs. ⋯ One hundred μM baclofen caused a transient increase of [Ca2+]i and eNOS translocation in cultured HAECs, and the effects were attenuated by pretreatment with the selective GABAB receptor antagonists CGP46381 and CGP55845. GABAB receptors are expressed in HAECs and regulate the [Ca2+]i and eNOS translocation. Cultures of HAECs may be a useful in vitro model for the study of GABAB receptors and vascular biology.
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The PiCCO transpulmonary thermodilution technique provides two indices of cardiac systolic function, the cardiac function index (CFI) and the global ejection fraction (GEF). Both appear to be correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) measured by echocardiography in patients with circulatory failure, especially in septic shock. The aim of the present study was to test the reliability of CFI as an indicator of LVEF in patients with cardiogenic shock. ⋯ CFI is correlated with LVEF provided that patient does not present severe right ventricular dysfunction. Thus, the PiCCO transpulmonary thermodilution technique is useful for the monitoring of inotropic therapy during cardiogenic shock.
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In acute kidney injury (AKI), elevated plasma creatinine is diagnostic of an earlier loss of glomerular filtration rate (GFR) but not of the concomitant GFR. Only subsequent creatinine changes will inform if GFR had already recovered or not. We hypothesized that the creatinine excretion rate to production rate ratio would provide this information. ⋯ There was a linear relationship between reduced creatinine concentration and E/eG (r (2) = 0.15; P < 0.0001). E/eG predicted a decrease in creatinine (AUC 0.70 (0.65 to 0.74)), identified recovered AKI (0.75 (0.67 to 0.84)), and predicted AKI (0.80 (0.73 to 0.86)). A ratio of the rates of creatinine excretion to estimated production much less than 1 indicated a concomitant GFR below baseline, whereas a ratio much more than 1 indicated a recovering or recovered GFR.
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For a given West African country, we constructed a model describing the spread of the deathly disease called Ebola hemorrhagic fever. The model was first constructed using the classical derivative and then converted to the generalized version using the beta-derivative. ⋯ The simulations were done in terms of time and beta. The study showed that, for small portion of infected individuals, the whole country could die out in a very short period of time in case there is not good prevention.