Anesthesiology
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Most in vitro neuroprotection studies with isoflurane have involved cells obtained during the embryonic or early postnatal period. However, in mature rodents, isoflurane neuroprotection does not persist. The authors determined whether neuroprotection of hippocampal slices with isoflurane decreases with aging and is due to decreased intracellular Ca regulation and survival protein phosphorylation. ⋯ Isoflurane neuroprotection of hippocampal slices during oxygen and glucose deprivation decreases with age. Isoflurane does not prevent large increases in intracellular Ca concentration during oxygen and glucose deprivation and does not induce the phosphorylation of the prosurvival proteins in aging slices. A protein kinase C-mediated increase in NMDAR activity may result in increased excitotoxicity and decreased neuroprotection by volatile anesthetics in the aging brain.
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Comparative Study
Major histocompatibility complex haplotype is associated with postherpetic pain in mice.
Postherpetic neuralgia is one of the major complications of herpes zoster caused by the reactivation of varicella-zoster virus and is characterized by severe pain. The authors previously showed the association of a human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) haplotype with postherpetic neuralgia. This study was performed to experimentally confirm the role of MHC haplotype in the development of postherpetic pain using a mouse model of postherpetic pain, which corresponds to postherpetic neuralgia. ⋯ These results suggest that the MHC haplotype (H-2) is involved in the incidence of postherpetic pain, and CD3-positive T cells may play a role in its pathogenesis.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of postoperative experiences on willingness to pay to avoid postoperative pain, nausea, and vomiting.
The authors assessed the willingness to pay (WTP) for "perfect" prophylactic antiemetics and analgesics in patients who were scheduled to undergo surgery during general anesthesia. Furthermore, they determined whether postoperative experiences of pain and nausea and vomiting (PONV) changed patients' WTP. ⋯ Severe postoperative pain experiences increased patients' WTP for analgesics, but PONV did not increase WTP for antiemetics. The elicited WTP values were lower than those reported in previous studies, which is possibly related to differences in market culture or patients' attitudes toward postoperative pain, nausea, and vomiting.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Electroencephalographic approximate entropy changes in healthy volunteers during remifentanil infusion.
The aim of this study was to investigate the independent effect of remifentanil on the approximate entropy (ApEn) in frontoparietal montages. The authors investigated which montages were relevant to assess the remifentanil effect on the electroencephalogram. Spectral edge frequency and the canonical univariate parameter were used as comparators. ⋯ Approximate entropy derived from a parietal montage is appropriate for the assessment of the remifentanil effect on the electroencephalogram.