Inflammatory reactivity is unrelated to childhood adversity or provoked modulation of nociception.

Adversity in childhood is robustly associated with persistent pain in adulthood. Neuro-immune interactions are a candidate mechanistic link between childhood adversity and persistent pain, given that both childhood adversity and persistent pain are associated with neural and immune upregulation in adulthood. As such, we aimed to clarify whether immune reactivity is associated with provoked differences in nociceptive processing in humans.

Comparison of erector spinae plane and transversus abdominis plane block for postoperative analgesia after caesarean delivery under spinal anaesthesia: A randomised controlled trial.

Background: Truncal blocks contribute to multimodal analgesia that enhances early recovery after caesarean delivery. The transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is an established technique that offers somatic abdominal wall analgesia. The erector spinae plane (ESP) block is a fascial plane technique that may offer additional visceral analgesic effects.

Social media as a tool to understand the distribution and ecology of elusive mammals.

Comparatively little is known about the distribution and ecology of Aardvark () and Temminck's Ground Pangolin (). Both are elusive species that are normally nocturnal, solitary, and fossorial. Formally collected records have been used to map the distribution of these species, and social media records provide a tool to gather information on their distribution and ecology.

The Sensation and Pain Rating Scale: easy to use, clear to interpret, and responsive to clinical change.

Background: The Sensation and Pain Rating Scale (SPARS) allows rating of non-painful as well as painful percepts. While it performs well in the experimental context, its clinical utility is untested. This prospective, repeated-measures study mixed qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the utility and performance of the SPARS in a clinical context, and to compare it with the widely used 11-point NRS for pain.

Temminck pangolins relax the precision of body temperature regulation when resources are scarce in a semi-arid environment.

Climate change is impacting mammals both directly (for example, through increased heat) and indirectly (for example, through altered food resources). Understanding the physiological and behavioural responses of mammals in already hot and dry environments to fluctuations in the climate and food availability allows for a better understanding of how they will cope with a rapidly changing climate. We measured the body temperature of seven Temminck's pangolins () in the semi-arid Kalahari for periods of between 4 months and 2 years.

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Non-pharmacological Methods to Manipulate Experimentally Induced Secondary Hypersensitivity.

This systematic review and meta-analysis investigated the effects of non-pharmacological manipulations on experimentally induced secondary hypersensitivity in pain-free humans. We investigated the magnitude (change/difference in follow-up ratings from pre-manipulation ratings) of secondary hypersensitivity (primary outcome), and surface area of secondary hypersensitivity (secondary outcome), in 27 studies representing 847 participants. Risk of bias assessment concluded most studies (23 of 27) had an unclear or high risk of performance and detection bias.

Chronic pain is no more prevalent in people living with HIV than in their uninfected counterparts in South Africa.

Background: There are few studies on chronic pain prevalence in people living with HIV, and there are no studies comparing chronic pain prevalence in an HIV-infected group (HIV+) to that found in an uninfected group (HIV-) in the same population. This study was undertaken to (1) estimate the chronic pain prevalence in HIV+ individuals and (2) compare chronic pain prevalence between HIV+ and HIV- groups in a population.

Methods: Individuals ≥15 years old were recruited using multi-stage probability sampling in the 2016 South African Demographic and Health Survey.

Expression in skin biopsies supports genetic evidence linking CAMKK2, P2X7R and P2X4R with HIV-associated sensory neuropathy.

HIV-associated sensory neuropathy (HIV-SN) affects 14-38% of HIV+ individuals stable on therapy with no neurotoxic drugs. Polymorphisms in CAMKK2, P2X7R and P2X4R associated with altered risk of HIV-SN in Indonesian and South African patients. The role of CaMKK2 in neuronal repair makes this an attractive candidate, but a direct role for any protein is predicated on expression in affected tissues.

Rescheduling gabapentinoids had negligible effects on prescribing behaviour by general practitioners in England.

Purpose: To determine whether the rescheduling of gabapentinoids in England as Schedule 3 Controlled Substances in April 2019, changed prescribing behaviour for gabapentinoids by general practitioners.

Methods: Data on the monthly number of prescription items and the monthly average dose per prescription item were analysed for the period April 2017 to April 2021 under three models: (i) a simple linear regression, (ii) a linear spline with a knot at April 2019, and (iii) a parallel slopes model with time before and after the rescheduling as a covariate. Best fit models were selected based on them having the lowest corrected Akaike's information criterion.

Slow and Steady But Not Related to HIV Stigma: Physical Activity in South Africans Living with HIV and Chronic Pain.

HIV stigma may influence physical activity in people living with HIV (PLWH) and chronic pain. We prospectively examined the relationship between stigma, activity and chronic pain in a convenience sample of PLWH initiating antiretroviral therapy in an inner-city clinic in Johannesburg, South Africa. Participants wore accelerometers to measure daily duration and intensity of activity for 2 weeks.

South African men and women living with HIV have similar distributions of pain sites.

Background: No studies have investigated sex differences in the location and number of pain sites in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PLWH), despite evidence that women, in general, bear a greater burden of pain than men.

Aim: To determine sex differences in the location and number of pain sites, and whether there were demographic or disease-related differences in the number of pain sites.

Setting: South African tertiary hospital HIV clinics and a community healthcare centreMethods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of records from South African PLWH who had pain.

Underdiagnosis of hypertension and diabetes mellitus in South Africa.

Background: Hypertension and diabetes mellitus (DM) are major causes of natural death in South Africa (SA). Underdiagnosis of these treatable diseases would hamper efforts to improve their management and hence reduce morbidity and mortality.

Objectives: To assess the level of underdiagnosis of hypertension and DM in SA.

Brief Report: Polymorphisms in CAMKK2 may Influence Domain-Specific Neurocognitive Function in HIV+ Indonesians Receiving ART.

Background: Despite effective antiretroviral therapy (ART), milder forms of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders remain prevalent and are characterized by neuroinflammation, synaptic dysfunction, and neuronal loss.

Methods: We explore associations between neurocognitive impairment in HIV+ Indonesians and 17 polymorphisms in adjacent genes involved in inflammation and neuronal growth/repair pathways, P2X4R and CAMKK2. HIV+ Indonesians (n = 59) who had received ART for 12 months were assessed to derive Z-scores for the attention, fluency, memory, executive, and motor speed domains relative to local control subjects.

Describing acid-base balance using three different methods of analysis in a feline acute haemorrhage-resuscitation model.

Objective: To describe acid-base status using the Henderson-Hasselbalch, Stewart and semi-quantitative methods of analysis in a feline haemorrhage-resuscitation model.

Study Design: Randomized crossover study.

Animals: A total of six domestic cats (mean age, 21 months; weight, 4.

Investigation of biomarkers for impending fluid overload in a feline acute haemorrhage-resuscitation model.

Objective: To determine biomarkers for impending fluid overload during intravenous fluid administration in a feline haemorrhage-resuscitation model.

Study Design: Randomized crossover study.

Animals: A group of six domestic cats (mean age and weight: 21 months; 4.

Neurocognitive outcomes in indonesians living with HIV are influenced by polymorphisms in the gene encoding purinergic P2X receptor 7.

The advent of effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) has decreased the prevalence and severity of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), but milder forms of HAND remain despite optimal treatment. Neuronal injury and loss due to inflammation may mediate HAND. encodes purinergic P2X receptor 7 which influences neuroinflammatory pathways and carries polymorphisms associated with sensory neuropathy in HIV patients.

Why It Is Important to Consider the Effects of Analgesics on Sleep: A Critical Review.

We review the known physiological mechanisms underpinning all of pain processing, sleep regulation, and pharmacology of analgesics prescribed for chronic pain. In particular, we describe how commonly prescribed analgesics act in sleep-wake neural pathways, with potential unintended impact on sleep and/or wake function. Sleep disruption, whether pain- or drug-induced, negatively impacts quality of life, mental and physical health.

Greater baseline pain inclusion criteria in clinical trials increase regression to the mean effect: a modelling study.

We modelled the effects of pain intensity inclusion thresholds (3/10, 4/10, and 5/10 on a 0- to 10-point numerical pain rating scale) on the magnitude of the regression to the mean effect under conditions that were consistent with the sample mean and variance, and intermeasurement correlation observed in clinical trials for the management of chronic pain. All data were modelled on a hypothetical placebo control group. We found a progressive increase in the mean pain intensity as the pain inclusion threshold increased, but this increase was not uniform, having an increasing effect on baseline measurements compared with study endpoint measurements as the threshold was increased.

Use of blood colour for assessment of arterial oxygen saturation in immobilized impala (Aepyceros melampus).

Objective: To determine the relationship between arterial blood colour [as defined by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) L∗a∗b∗ colour space] and haemoglobin oxygen saturation [functional saturation (SaO) and fractional saturation (FOHb)], and if arterial blood colour can be used to predict arterial haemoglobin oxygen saturation.

Study Design: Descriptive study as an adjunct to two prospective randomized crossover studies.

Animals: A group of 10 wild caught adult female impala (Aepyceros melampus) weighing 34.

High individual pain variability in people living with HIV: A graphical analysis.

Background: People living with HIV (PLWH) frequently experience pain. Following calls to analyse individual-level data in addition to group-level data in pain studies, we compared individual and group-level changes in pain prevalence, intensity and number of pain sites over 48 weeks in a large cohort of PLWH. This is the largest ever cohort study of pain in PLWH, and is the first to report pain at the level of the individual.