Anesthesiology
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Patients undergoing cancer treatment often experience chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain at their extremities, for which there is no U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved drug. The authors hypothesized that local sympathetic blockade, which is used in the clinic to treat various pain conditions, can also be effective to treat chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain. ⋯ Local sympathetic nerves control the progression of immune responses in dorsal root ganglia and pain-like behaviors in mice after paclitaxel, raising the possibility that clinical strategies already in use for local sympathetic blockade may also offer an effective treatment for patients experiencing chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain.
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Sevoflurane is commonly used for cervical cancer surgery, but its effect on cervical cancer cell biology remains unclear. This mechanistic study explores how sevoflurane affects the proliferation and metastatic potential of immortalized cervical cancer cell lines. ⋯ Sevoflurane enhanced proliferation, migration, and invasion of immortalized cervical cancer cells, which was likely associated with increasing histone deacetylase 6 expression caused by phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase/AKT- and ERK1/2-signaling pathway activation.
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Consciousness is supported by integrated brain activity across widespread functionally segregated networks. The functional magnetic resonance imaging-derived global brain signal is a candidate marker for a conscious state, and thus the authors hypothesized that unconsciousness would be accompanied by a loss of global temporal coordination, with specific patterns of decoupling between local regions and global activity differentiating among various unconscious states. ⋯ The global temporal coordination of various modules across the brain may distinguish the coarse-grained state of consciousness versus unconsciousness, while the relationship between the global and local signals may define the particular qualities of a particular unconscious state.