Assessment of Pain and Associated Comorbidities: A Survey of Real Life Experiences Among Nurses in Italy.

Purpose: Pain is a symptom that should be evaluated along with its comorbidities in order to plan an effective holistic treatment strategy involving specific pharmacological interventions, side effect management, psychological support, control of therapeutic effects over time, and dialogue with the patient and their relatives. In this holistic process of caring for patients with pain, nurses play a central role as they deal with suffering patients directly and continuously. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the types of pain identified by nurses in their daily clinical practice and the associated comorbidities (anamnestic history taking) by geographical region and to evaluate the pharmacological strategies used.

FD and FAB mass spectra of some oligopeptides of the tryptophyllin family.

Mass spectra of some natural thryptophyllins and synthetic analogues have been obtained by using field desorption and fast atom bombardment as soft ionization techniques to overcome the low volatility of these oligopeptides. Field desorption spectra generally show the molecular ion as base peak; some fragments of thermal origin are present at higher emitter heating current, thus providing additional structural information. Fast atom bombardment mass spectra show a more regular fragmentation of the peptide backbone, which allow the complete amino acid sequence to be checked.

Opioid receptor binding profile of selected dermorphin-like peptides.

The receptor binding profile of a selected group of dermorphin-like peptides was determined and correlated with the results of the guinea pig ileum (GPI) and mouse vas deferens (MVD) bioassays and with the currently used antinociception tests in the rat. For the peptides with the characteristic dermorphin D-Ala2-Phe3-Gly4 sequence, a linear negative correlation was found between the reciprocal of sodium shift and relative affinity for the mu-type opioid receptor. For the same peptides, a positive correlation was evidenced between relative potency on GPI and MVD and relative affinity for mu- and delta-type receptors, respectively.

Antinociceptive and other opioid effects of a new series of dermorphin analogues after subcutaneous administration in the rat.

A series of hepta-, hexa-, penta- and tetrapeptide analogues of dermorphin have been evaluated in the rat for antinociceptive activity after subcutaneous (SC) administration at the screening dose of 4 mg/kg. Effective doses (ED50) were calculated for the most active compounds. Presence of spontaneous movements, defecation, micturition and corneal reflex were also recorded.

Stimulatory action of (beta-Asp9) ceruletide on dog pancreatic exocrine secretion.

The synthetic analog of ceruletide, (beta-Asp9) ceruletide, which in previous studies was found to retain some central effects of ceruletide with virtually no effect on gallbladder contraction, was studied for its stimulatory effect on pancreatic secretion. This peptide was shown to induce an increase in the volume of pancreatic juice similar to that provoked by the parent compound. Its activity was 4% of that of ceruletide, as regards volume, dry residue and protein content of the pancreatic juice.