Articles: hyperalgesia.
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Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN) is a common, difficult-to-treat, and dose-limiting side effect associated with Oxaliplatin (OXA) treatment. In this study, we evaluated the effect of three antioxidants - namely N-acetylcysteine, α-lipoic acid and vitamin E - upon nociceptive parameters and antitumor efficacy of OXA in a tumor-bearing Swiss mice model. Oral treatment with antioxidants inhibited both mechanical and cold allodynia when concomitantly administrated with OXA (preventive protocol), as well as in animals with previously established CIPN (therapeutic protocol). ⋯ The herein presented results are provocative for further evaluation of antioxidants in clinical management of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. PERSPECTIVE: This study reports preventive and therapeutic efficacy of orally administrated antioxidants (N-acetylcysteine, α-lipoic-acid and Vitamin-E) in alleviating oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy in tumor-bearing mice. Antioxidants' anti-nociceptive effects are associated with inhibition of ROS-dependent neuroinflammation, and occur at no detriment of OXA antitumor activity, therefore indicating a translational potential of these compounds.
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In most experimental studies in which verbal suggestion and classical conditioning are implemented together to induce placebo effects, the former precedes the latter. In naturally occurring situations, however, the information concerning pain does not always precede but often follows the pain experience. Moreover, this information is not always congruent with experience. ⋯ The order of the congruent procedures did not affect the magnitude of nocebo hyperalgesia. In the groups in which incongruent procedures were implemented, placebo hypoalgesia or nocebo hyperalgesia was in line with the direction of the last-used procedure, regardless of whether it was conditioning or verbal suggestion. The results show that not the type of the procedure (verbal suggestion or conditioning), but the direction of the last-used procedure shapes pain-related expectancies and determines placebo effects.
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Inflammation plays a key role in the progression and maintenance of chronic pain, which impacts the lives of millions of Americans. Despite growing evidence that chronic pain can be improved by treating underlying inflammation, successful treatments are lacking and pharmaceutical interventions are limited due to drug side effects. Here we are testing whether a 'healthy human' diet (HHD), with or without anti-inflammatory components (HHAID), improves pain-like behaviors in a preclinical model of chronic widespread hypersensitivity induced by neonatal maternal separation (NMS). ⋯ In female mice, HHAID specifically increased measures of metabolic syndrome and inflammation compared to the HHD and control diet groups. Male mice were susceptible to worsening metabolic measures on both the HHAID and HHD. This work highlights important sexual dimorphic outcomes related to early life stress exposure and dietary interventions, as well as a potential disconnect between improvements in pain-like behaviors and metabolic measures.
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Fibromyalgia is a chronic widespread pain syndrome associated with hypersensitivity to nociceptive stimuli. This increased sensitivity of FM patients has been associated with central sensitization of dorsal horn neurons. Increasing evidence, however, suggests that the mechanisms of FM hypersensitivity not only affect pain but include light, smell, and sound. ⋯ Whether the central nervous system mechanisms for auditory and nociceptive augmentation are similar, needs to be determined in future studies. PERSPECTIVE: This study presents QST evidence that the hypersensitivity of FM patients is not limited to painful stimuli but also to innocuous stimuli like sound. Our results suggest that abnormal brain mechanisms may be responsible for the increased sensitivity of FM patients.
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Background In adults, high-dose remifentanil during surgery has been reported to increase postoperative opioid consumption, but this has not been well documented in children. Multimodal analgesia is recommended in the perioperative period for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS), but no report has examined opioid consumption under epidural analgesia, which is one of the most common types of analgesia. Aims To investigate the association between intraoperative remifentanil dosage and postoperative opioid consumption in AIS in the setting of combined epidural analgesia for postoperative multimodal analgesia. ⋯ No association was observed between nonopioid analgesic use and intraoperative remifentanil dosage. Conclusion No association was noted between remifentanil dosage during surgery for AIS and postoperative opioid consumption with epidural analgesia. However, this study has limitations due to its retrospective design; thus, further prospective studies are warranted.