Effects of different types of neonatal pain on somatosensory and cognitive development in male juvenile rats.

Background: Premature infants are inevitably exposed to painful events, including repetitive procedures, inflammation, or mixed stimulation that may induce long-term behavioral outcomes. Here, we set up three neonatal painful models to investigate their long-term effect on somatosensation and cognition.

Methods: Three types of neonatal pain models in rat were set up.

Enriched environment rescues neonatal pain induced cognitive deficits and the impaired hippocampal synaptic plasticity later in life.

Although extensive and untreated pain that occurs during a critical developmental window may impair cognition later in life, environmental interventions early in life might promote cognition. However, the underlying mechanism is poorly understood. Our current study utilized a rat model of "repetitive needle pricks" from the day of birth (P0) to postnatal day 7 (P7) to mimic the painful experience of preterm neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Dietary curcumin supplementation promotes browning and energy expenditure in postnatal overfed rats.

Background: Early postnatal overfeeding could result in metabolic imprinting that decreases energy expenditure following white adipose tissue (WAT) gain throughout life. This research investigated whether curcumin (CUR) supplementation could promote WAT browning and activate thermogenesis in postnatal overfed rats.

Methods And Results: This study adjusted the size of litters to three (small litters, SL) or ten (normal litters, NL) to mimic early postnatal overfeeding or normal feeding from postnatal day 3.

Chemogenetic stimulation of proprioceptors remodels lumbar interneuron excitability and promotes motor recovery after SCI.

Motor recovery after severe spinal cord injury (SCI) is limited due to the disruption of direct descending commands. Despite the absence of brain-derived descending inputs, sensory afferents below injury sites remain intact. Among them, proprioception acts as an important sensory source to modulate local spinal circuits and determine motor outputs.

n-3 PUFAs protect against adiposity and fatty liver by promoting browning in postnatally overfed male rats: a role for NRG4.

Early-life nutrition plays an important role in regulating adult metabolism. This study evaluated the effects of early nutrition during the suckling and postweaning periods on expression of the adipocytokine Neuregulin 4 (Nrg4) and its relationship with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in adulthood. In vivo, male rats were adjusted to litter sizes of three (small litter, SL) or ten (normal litter, NL) on postnatal day 3.

Procedural Pain in Hospitalized Children in a Chinese Children's Hospital.

Background: Pain prevalence in pediatric hospitals has been investigated in many developed countries, but little is known about this topic in China.

Aims: This study sought to describe the frequency and pain intensity of procedures for medical care in hospitalized children in a Chinese children's hospital.

Design: A cross-sectional study was designed to include interviews with children, their parents and the nurses.

Repetitive Pain in Neonatal Male Rats Impairs Hippocampus-Dependent Fear Memory Later in Life.

Preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units are inevitably subjected to numerous painful procedures. However, little is known about the consequences of early pain experience on fear memory formation later in life. We hypothesized that exposure to repetitive pain in early life triggered hippocampal synaptic plasticity and resulted in memory deficiency in prepubertal and adult rats.

TNFR2 knockdown triggers apoptosis-induced proliferation in primarily cultured Schwann cells.

After sciatic nerve injury, Schwann cells in the distal segments of injury site undergo apoptosis and meanwhile proliferation. Although apoptosis-induced proliferation (AiP) has been characterized in various models, whether the proliferation of Schwann cells in the distal segments is triggered by apoptosis remains unelucidated. In this study, we used small interfering RNA to knock down the expression of TNFR1 and TNFR2 in primarily cultured Schwann cells, respectively and observed its effects on apoptosis and proliferation.

Neonatal overfeeding induced glucocorticoid overexposure accelerates hepatic lipogenesis in male rats.

Background: Postnatal overfeeding activates tissue glucocorticoid (GC) activity by up-regulating 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 (11β-HSD1) and increasing sensitivity to high-fat (HF) diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of postnatal overfeeding on GC regulation and lipogenesis in the liver and to observe the impact of GC on hepatocyte lipid metabolism.

Methods: In vivo Male Sprague-Dawley rat pup litters were adjusted to litter sizes of three (small litter, SL) or ten (normal litter, NL) on postnatal day 3 and then given standard chow from postnatal week 3 (W3) to W13.

Neonatal repetitive pain in rats leads to impaired spatial learning and dysregulated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function in later life.

Preterm birth is a major health issue. As part of their life-saving care, most preterm infants require hospitalization and are inevitably exposed to repetitive skin-breaking procedures. The long-term effects of neonatal repetitive pain on cognitive and emotional behaviors involving hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function in young and adult rats are unknown.