Xerostomia induced by antidepressants such as imipramine has long been thought to be due to their anticholinergic effects. However, even antidepressants with low anticholinergic effects may have a high incidence of xerostomia. In salivary glands, norepinephrine activates alpha-adrenergic receptors in blood vessels and beta-adrenergic receptors in acinar cells, respectively, causing a decrease in the blood flow and an increase in the protein secretion, resulting in the secretion of viscous saliva with low water content and high protein content.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Multiple needle punctures during central venous line insertion can lead to serious complications. Needle deterioration owing to repeated punctures may be a major cause. We hypothesized that there is an optimal bevel angle for a back-cut point needle that is resistant to deterioration.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFree d-amino acids, which are enantiomers of l-amino acids, are found in mammals, including humans, and play an important role in a range of physiological functions in the central nervous system and peripheral tissues. Several d-amino acids have been observed in saliva, but their origin and the enzymes involved in their metabolism and catabolism remain to be clarified. In the present study, large amounts of d-aspartic acid and small amounts of d-serine and d-alanine were detected in all three major salivary glands in rat.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis dose-response study investigated the effects of sialorphin on [Met]enkephalin (ME)-induced inhibition of contractions in mouse vas deferens and antinociception in male rats. Differences were compared among combinations of three chemical peptidase inhibitors: amastatin, captopril, and phosphoramidon. The ratio of potencies of ME in mouse vas deferens pretreated with both sialorphin (100 µM) and a mixture of the three peptidase inhibitors (1 µM each) was higher than that with the mixture of peptidase inhibitors alone at any dose.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLead aprons are worn by medical workers to reduce the effects of the radiation doses to which they are exposed during radiography and surgery performed with radioscopic apparatus. Regarding the management of such aprons, the Radiation Protection Section of the Japanese Society of Radiological Technology issued the "Guidelines for the Management of Lead Aprons" in 2000, and common management criteria have been set for all institutions. However, we found that the lead aprons used in operating rooms had not been closely inspected before 2014 in our hospital.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: In a previous study using the tail-flick test, we found that intracerebroventricular administration of D-serine, an endogenous co-agonist at the glycine sites of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, elicited an antinociceptive effect on thermal nociception. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of intracerebroventricular administration of D-serine on nociception induced by tissue damage or inflammation using the formalin test.
Methods: Infusion of drugs into the third ventricle in rat was performed via indwelling cannulae.
Purpose: The goal of this retrospective study was to evaluate the effects of perioperative administration of sivelestat sodium hydrate, a selective neutrophil elastase inhibitor, on the clinical course after radical surgery for esophageal cancer.
Methods: The effects of sivelestat on postoperative systemic inflammatory reactions and respiratory function were examined in 53 patients who underwent radical surgery for esophageal cancer between April 2004 and March 2005 with (n = 26, sivelestat group) and without (n = 27, control group) the administration of sivelestat.
Results: The average age in the sivelestat group was higher than that in the control group, but there were no other differences in the background factors between the two groups.
Objective: In perioperative management, prothrombin time (PT) expressed as the international normalized ratio (INR) is an important preoperative test to assess bleeding risk. It is also used to assess the effect of discontinuing anticoagulant therapy, to determine whether to treat patients with vitamin K or fresh frozen plasma, and to decide whether a deep nerve block (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOur recent study has shown that the intracerebroventricular administration of d-serine, an endogenous and selective agonist for the glycine site of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor, alone or in combination with morphine, leads to the potentiation of antinociception on the tail-flick response. Although there is a variety of information concerning the effects of benzodiazepines on opioid-induced antinociception, little is known about the effect of benzodiazepines on the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor agonist-induced antinociception. To clarify the analgesic interactions among the benzodiazepine/GABA(A), N-methyl-d-aspartate and opioid receptors at the supraspinal level, we investigated the effects of intracerebroventricular administration of midazolam, a benzodiazepine receptor agonist, on the antinociception evoked by the intracerebroventricular application of d-serine or morphine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough there is a variety of information concerning the effects of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor on opioid-induced antinociception at the spinal level, little is known about the effects at the supraspinal level. To clarify the role of the NMDA receptor on the morphine-induced antinociception at the supraspinal level, we investigated the effects of the intracerebroventricular (i.c.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe applied an axisymmetric model of the tibia to a finite element method and analyzed the heat conduction from bone cement in total knee arthroplasty using numerical simulation with the finite element analysis software, ABACUS. We hypothesized the thermal necrotic map of bone. Moreover, we suggested a method for preventing thermal necrosis of bone using this simulation.
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