Posttraumatic hyperalgesia and associated peripheral sensitization after temporomandibular joint injury in mice.

Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is the most prevalent painful condition in the craniofacial area. Recent studies have suggested that external or intrinsic trauma to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is associated with the onset of painful TMD in patients. Here, we investigated the effects of TMJ trauma through forced-mouth opening (FMO) in mice to determine pain behaviors and peripheral sensitization of trigeminal nociceptors in both sexes.

Green Light Exposure Reduces Primary Hyperalgesia and Proinflammatory Cytokines in a Rodent Model of Knee Osteoarthritis: Shedding Light on Sex Differences.

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) often causes chronic pain that disproportionately affects females. Proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 are key effectors of OA pathological changes. Green light shows potential as an alternative intervention for various pain conditions.

Age- and Sex-Dependent Effects of Moderate Exercise on Endogenous Pain Inhibition in Rats.

Diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNICs), or the pain inhibits pain phenomenon, refer to reduced pain-like behaviors that are displayed following a noxious conditioning stimulus located far from the test stimulus and have also been referred to as "descending control of nociception" when measured in awake-behaving animals. In this study, we sought to determine the impact of moderate long-term exercise on the DCN response and determine if this effect differed across age and sex. After a six-week exercise program consisting of 30 min of moderate treadmill running 5 days a week, the animals' forepaws were injected with capsaicin, and DCN responses were assessed using thermal withdrawal latencies of the hind paw.

Forced swim stress exacerbates inflammation-induced hyperalgesia and oxidative stress in the rat trigeminal ganglia.

This study investigates the impact of combining psychophysical stress, induced by forced swim (FSS), with masseter inflammation on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in trigeminal ganglia (TG), TRPA1 upregulation in TG, and mechanical hyperalgesia. In a rat model, we demonstrate that FSS potentiates and prolongs CFA-induced ROS upregulation within TG. The ROS levels in CFA combined with FSS group surpass those in the CFA-only group on days 4 and 28 post-treatment.

Technical, economic, and environmental feasibility of rice hull ash from electricity generation as a mineral additive to concrete.

A circular economy based on symbiotic relationships among sectors, where the waste from one is resource to another, holds promise for cost-effective and sustainable production. This research explores such a model for the agriculture, energy, and construction sectors in California. Here, we develop new an understanding for the synergistic utilization mechanisms for rice hull, a byproduct from rice production, as a feedstock for electricity generation and rice hull ash (RHA) used as a supplementary cementitious material in concrete.

Economic and environmental performance of microalgal energy products - A case study exploring circular bioeconomy principles applied to recycled anaerobic digester waste flows.

This study quantifies the financial and environmental impacts of a microalgal bioenergy system that attempts to maximize circular flows by recovering and reusing the carbon, nutrients, and water within the system. The system produces microalgal biomass using liquid digestate of an anaerobic digester that processes 45 metric tons of food waste and generates 28.6 m of permeate daily in California, and three energy production scenarios from the biomass are considered: producing biodiesel, electricity, and both.

Intraganglionic reactive oxygen species mediate inflammatory pain and hyperalgesia through TRPA1 in the rat.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated in nociceptive pathways in response to inflammation and injury. ROS are accumulated within the sensory ganglia following peripheral inflammation, but the functional role of intraganlionic ROS in inflammatory pain is not clearly understood. The aims of this study were to investigate whether peripheral inflammation leads to prolonged ROS accumulation within the trigeminal ganglia (TG), whether intraganglionic ROS mediate pain hypersensitivity via activation of TRPA1, and whether TRPA1 expression is upregulated in TG during inflammatory conditions by ROS.

Exploring Bias in Restraint Use: Four Strategies to Mitigate Bias in Care of the Agitated Patient in the Emergency Department.

Agitation is a routine and increasingly common presentation to the emergency department (ED). In the wake of a national examination into racism and police use of force, this article aims to extend that reflection into emergency medicine in the management of patients presenting with acute agitation. Through an overview of ethicolegal considerations in restraint use and current literature on implicit bias in medicine, this article provides a discussion on how bias may impact care of the agitated patient.

The degeneration-pain relationship in the temporomandibular joint: Current understandings and rodent models.

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) represent a group of musculoskeletal conditions involving the temporomandibular joints (TMJ), the masticatory muscles and associated structures. Painful TMD are highly prevalent and conditions afflict 4% of US adults annually. TMD include heterogenous musculoskeletal pain conditions, such as myalgia, arthralgia, and myofascial pain.

Comparison of sensory outcomes in patients with successful motor outcome versus recurrent exotropia after surgery for intermittent exotropia.

Here, we compared sensory outcomes between patients with successful motor outcomes and recurrent exotropia after intermittent exotropia surgery. We retrospectively analyzed 303 patients who underwent surgery for intermittent exotropia, divided into two groups: successful motor outcome defined as an alignment between 10 prism diopters (PD) exodeviation and 5PD esodeviation at the final follow-up (Group A, n = 177) and residual or recurrent exotropia defined as exodeviation > 10 PD (Group B, n = 126). Preoperative and postoperative (at final visit) sensory outcomes were compared using the Titmus stereotest and distance Worth 4-dot test.

Exploring bias in restraint use: Four strategies to mitigate bias in care of the agitated patient in the emergency department.

Agitation is a routine and increasingly common presentation to the emergency department (ED). In the wake of a national examination into racism and police use of force, this article aims to extend that reflection into emergency medicine in the management of patients presenting with acute agitation. Through an overview of ethicolegal considerations in restraint use and current literature on implicit bias in medicine, this article provides a discussion on how bias may impact care of the agitated patient.

Pain modulatory network is influenced by sex and age in a healthy state and during osteoarthritis progression in rats.

Old age and female sex are risk factors for the development of osteoarthritis (OA) and chronic pain. We investigated the effects of sex and age on pain modulatory networks in a healthy state and during OA progression. We used functional MRI to determine the effects of sex and age on periaqueductal gray functional connectivity (PAG FC) in a healthy state (pre-OA) and during the early and late phases of monosodium iodoacetate-induced OA in rats.

Compositional cyber-physical epidemiology of COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant challenges globally. Countries have adopted different strategies with varying degrees of success. Epidemiologists are studying the impact of government actions using scenario analysis.

The Role of DNA Methylation in Transcriptional Regulation of Pro-Nociceptive Genes in Rat Trigeminal Ganglia.

Epigenetic modulation by DNA methylation is associated with aberrant gene expression in sensory neurons, which consequently leads to pathological pain responses. In this study, we sought to investigate whether peripheral inflammation alters global DNA methylation in trigeminal ganglia (TG) and results in abnormal expression of pro-nociceptive genes. Our results show that peripheral inflammation remotely reduced the level of global DNA methylation in rat TG with a concurrent reduction in and expression.

Peripheral glutamate receptor and transient receptor potential channel mechanisms of craniofacial muscle pain.

Temporomandibular joint disorder is a common chronic craniofacial pain condition, often involving persistent, widespread craniofacial muscle pain. Although the etiology of chronic muscle pain is not well known, sufficient clinical and preclinical information supports a contribution of trigeminal nociceptors to craniofacial muscle pain processing under various experimental and pathological conditions. Here, we review cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying sensitization of muscle nociceptive afferents.

Brain networks and endogenous pain inhibition are modulated by age and sex in healthy rats.

Endogenous pain inhibition is less efficient in chronic pain patients. Diffuse noxious inhibitory control (DNIC), a form of endogenous pain inhibition, is compromised in women and older people, making them more vulnerable to chronic pain. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

Phosphorylation of TRPV1 S801 Contributes to Modality-Specific Hyperalgesia in Mice.

Transient receptor potential vanilloid subtype 1 (TRPV1) is a nonselective cationic channel activated by painful stimuli such as capsaicin and noxious heat, and enriched in sensory neurons of the pain pathway. During inflammation, chemical mediators activate protein kinases (such as PKC) that phosphorylate TRPV1 and thereby enhance its function, with consequent increases in nociceptor sensitization. However, the causal relationships between TRPV1 phosphorylation and pathological pain remain unexplored.

Mortality in Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh: historical, social, and political context.

Fifty-two maternal deaths occurred between September 2017 and August 2018 in the Rohingya refugee camps in Ukhia and Teknaf Upazilas, Cox's Bazar District, Bangladesh. Behind every one of these lives lost is a complex narrative of historical, social, and political forces, which provide an important context for reproductive health programming in Rohingya camps. Rohingya women and girls have experienced human rights violations in Myanmar for decades, including government-sponsored sexual violence and population control efforts.

ISNT rule satisfaction in Korean non-glaucomatous subjects.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of the ISNT rule in normal eyes of Koreans.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of 890 subjects with fundus photographs and evaluated the presence of the cup and ISNT rule satisfaction. If the ISNT rule was violated, the quadrants in which the neuroretinal rim was thinnest and thickest, respectively, were evaluated.

Age and Sex Differences in Acute and Osteoarthritis-Like Pain Responses in Rats.

In this study, we investigated age and sex differences in acute and chronic pain in rats. Groups of young (3-6 months) and aged (20-24 months) male and female Fischer 344 rats were used to assess basal thermal and mechanical thresholds, capsaicin-induced acute nocifensive responses and c-Fos expression in the spinal cord, and monoiodoacetate (MIA)-induced knee osteoarthritis (OA)-like pain responses. There was a significant sex, but not age, effect on thermal threshold on the hindpaw and mechanical threshold on the knee joint.

Voluntary biting behavior as a functional measure of orofacial pain in mice.

Introduction: Pain-related behavior secondary to masticatory function can be assessed with the rodent bite force model. A reduction of the bite force has been shown to be related to pain associated with the masseter muscle and jaw activity, while an increase in bite force suggests improvement of muscle function and less pain. To evaluate the usefulness of the bite force measure in studying long-lasting orofacial pain we analyzed biting parameters during prolonged myofascial pain induced by ligation injury of the masseter muscle tendon (TL) in mice.

Effects of intramuscular morphine in men and women with temporomandibular disorder with myofascial pain.

Objectives: This placebo-controlled randomized double-blinded clinical study assessed the analgesic efficacy of intramuscular morphine in TMD patients with myofascial pain and sex-dependent responses of the morphine treatment.

Subjects And Methods: Men and women with TMD were treated with morphine (1.5 or 5 mg), lidocaine, or saline in the masseter muscle.

Diffuse noxious inhibitory controls and brain networks are modulated in a testosterone-dependent manner in Sprague Dawley rats.

Diffuse noxious inhibitory control (DNIC), which involves endogenous pain modulation, has been investigated as a potential mechanism for the differences in pain modulation observed between men and women, though the literature shows contradictory findings. We used a capsaicin-induced DNIC behavioral assay and resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) to assess the effect of testosterone on pain modulation and related brain circuitry in rats. We hypothesized that testosterone is required for DNIC that leads to efficient pain inhibition by increasing descending pain modulation.

Spontaneous and Bite-Evoked Muscle Pain Are Mediated by a Common Nociceptive Pathway With Differential Contribution by TRPV1.

Unlabelled: Spontaneous pain and function-associated pain are prevalent symptoms of multiple acute and chronic muscle pathologies. We established mouse models for evaluating spontaneous pain and bite-evoked pain from masseter muscle, and determined the roles of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1) and the contribution of TRPV1- or neurokinin 1 (NK1)-dependent nociceptive pathways. Masseter muscle inflammation increased Mouse Grimace Scale scores and face-wiping behavior, which were attenuated by pharmacological or genetic inhibition of TRPV1.