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.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Glioblastoma (GBM) has a median survival of <2 years. Pexidartinib (PLX3397) is a small-molecule inhibitor of CSF1R, KIT, and oncogenic FTL3, which are implicated in GBM treatment resistance. Results from glioma models indicate that combining radiation therapy (RT) and pexidartinib reduces radiation resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere are substantial differences in the capacity of people to have imagined visual experiences, ranging from a lifelong inability (Congenital Aphantasia) to people who report having imagined experiences that are as vivid as actually seeing (Hyper-Phantasia). While Congenital Aphantasia has typically been framed as a cognitive deficit, it is possible that a weak or absent ability to have imagined visual sensations is balanced by a heightened resistance to intrusive thoughts - which are experienced as an imagined sensation. Here, we report on a direct test of that proposition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease resulting in joint swelling and pain. Treatment options can be reliant on disease activity scores (DAS) incorporating patient global assessments, which are quantified via visual analogue scales (VAS). VAS can be subjective and not necessarily align with clinical symptoms, such as inflammation, resulting in a disconnect between the patient's and practitioners' experience.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy commonly involves systemic infusion of MSCs, which undergo apoptosis in the lung and induce immunoregulatory macrophages that reduce disease. The relevance of this mode of action, however, is yet to be determined for MSCs administered via other routes. Here, we administered MSCs via subcutaneous (SC) injection into inflamed tissue and investigated the immunomodulatory effects on the local lymph node (LN), which is a major site for the initiation and regulation of immune responses.
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