Impact of solid fuel usage on respiratory symptoms among reproductive aged women: a cross-sectional study in Sri Lanka.

Background: Worldwide, around 3 billion people rely on solid fuel for their daily energy needs. Household air pollution secondary to solid fuel burning is a major risk factor for respiratory mobility among vulnerable populations. This study aimed to investigate the respiratory symptoms associated with solid fuel usage, the level of kitchen fuel smoke exposure and its association with respiratory symptoms among reproductive-aged women in Sri Lanka, where most households exclusively use firewood as the primary cooking fuel.

Is biomass fuel smoke exposure associated with anemia in non-pregnant reproductive-aged women?

Objectives: Sri Lanka is a developing country where the majority of households still rely on firewood for cooking. Furthermore, the prevalence of anemia among reproductive-aged women is of moderate public health importance, according the classification of World Health Organization. Despite the researchers' ongoing efforts to investigate a link between solid fuel smoke exposure and anemia, the veracity of their findings remains uncertain.

Effects of Physical Activity During Pregnancy on Neonatal Birth Weight.

We assessed the prevalence of adherence to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommendations regarding physical activity during pregnancy among Sri Lankan women and explored the relationship between physical activity during pregnancy and neonatal birth weight. In total, 141 pregnant women (gestational age, 18-24 weeks) were included from October to December 2015 and followed up until delivery. A validated questionnaire regarding physical activity during pregnancy was administered in the second and third trimesters.

Effects of Prenatal Tobacco and Wood-Fuel Smoke Exposure on Birth Weight in Sri Lanka.

Low birth weight is a key public health problem in many developing countries, including Sri Lanka. Indoor air pollution from tobacco smoke and kitchen-fuel smoke are among the major contributors to low birth weight, factors of which there are little awareness of in Sri Lanka. We evaluated the effect of passive smoking and kitchen-fuel smoke exposure on birth weight.

Impact of Second Trimester Maternal Dietary Intake on Gestational Weight Gain and Neonatal Birth Weight.

Poor maternal nutrition is a major contributor to the high incidence of low birth weight deliveries in developing countries. This study aimed to assess the impact of second trimester maternal dietary intake on gestational weight gain and neonatal birth weight. A longitudinal study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Sri Lanka.

Novel trigeminal slice preparation method for studying mechanisms of nociception transmission.

Background: The trigeminal subnucleus caudalis (Vc) plays a critical role in transmission and modulation of nociceptive afferent inputs, and exhibits a similar layer construction to the spinal dorsal horn. However, afferent inputs enter the brainstem and project to a separately located nucleus. It has previously been difficult to record responses of the Vc to afferent fiber activation in a brainstem slice preparation.

Clinically relevant concentration of pregabalin has no acute inhibitory effect on excitation of dorsal horn neurons under normal or neuropathic pain conditions: An intracellular calcium-imaging study in spinal cord slices from adult rats.

Pregabalin is thought to exert its therapeutic effect in neuropathic pain via binding to α2δ-1 subunits of voltage-gated calcium (Ca(2+)) channels. However, the exact analgesic mechanism after its binding to α2δ-1 subunits remains largely unknown. Whether a clinical concentration of pregabalin (≈10μM) can cause acute inhibition of dorsal horn neurons in the spinal cord is controversial.

Association of urinary 8-OHdG with lifestyle and body composition in elderly natural disaster victims living in emergency temporary housing.

Objectives: Residents who lost land and houses due to disasterous heavy rainfall-related events on July 13, 2004 and the Chuetsu Earthquake on October 23, 2004 were moved to emergency temporary housing. The change in life style due to living under such conditions is assumed to increase oxidative stress level. In this study, we investigated the oxidative stress level in elderly residents of emergency temporary housing, and analyzed its association with lifestyle and body composition following these disasters.

Genetic reduction of GABA(A) receptor gamma2 subunit expression potentiates the immobilizing action of isoflurane.

Potentiation of inhibitory gamma-aminobutyric acid subtype A (GABA(A)) receptor function is involved in the mechanisms of anesthetic action. The present study examined the immobilizing action of the volatile anesthetic isoflurane in mice with double knockout (DKO) of phospholipase C-related inactive protein (PRIP)-1 and -2. Both of these proteins play important roles in the expression of GABA(A) receptors containing the gamma2 subunit on the neuronal cell surface.

Iteration of high-frequency stimulation enhances long-lasting excitatory responses in the spinal dorsal horn of rats: characterization by optical imaging of signal propagation.

To investigate plastic changes in nociceptive sensitivity of the dorsal horn, slow excitatory responses elicited by iteration of high-frequency stimulation were spatiotemporally observed in spinal cord slices of young-adult rats using membrane excitation imaging techniques. Single-pulse stimulation to the dorsal root elicited membrane excitation in lamina II, and high-frequency pulse-train stimulation evoked long-lasting excitation that expanded widely in the dorsal horn. Iteration of high-frequency stimulation enhanced the strength and extent of the excitatory responses, but such augmentation of the excitatory responses disappeared in the presence of an NMDA receptor antagonist (CPP) and was hindered by an NK1 receptor antagonist (L-703.

Postnatal development of excitation propagation in the trigeminal subnucleus caudalis evoked by afferent stimulation in mice.

The postnatal development of nociceptive afferent activity expansion and its modulation features were examined in mice using an optical imaging technique. Developing mice (1-2 weeks old (N1-2 w), 3-4 weeks old (N3-4 w), 5-6 weeks old (N5-6 w) and 7-8 weeks old (N7-8 w)) and neonatally capsaicin-treated mice were used. The propagation of neuronal excitation was measured by changes in fluorescent intensity in horizontal brain stem slices evoked by electrical stimulation to the trigeminal spinal tract.

Postnatal changes in the spatial distributions of substance P and neurokinin-1 receptor in the trigeminal subnucleus caudalis of mice.

Nociceptive afferent signals from the orofacial area are transmitted to the trigeminal subnucleus caudalis (Vc) through the release of glutamate and/or substance P (SP). Although nociceptive transmission and/or modulating mechanisms are known to develop during the postnatal period, the specific developmental changes in nociception and/or modulation remain unclear. The present study examined postnatal changes in the spatial relationship between SP and its receptor, the NK1 receptor (NK1R), in the mouse Vc by immunohistochemistry and quantitative analysis.

Reduced sensitivity to ketamine and pentobarbital in mice lacking the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor GluRepsilon1 subunit.

Ketamine is an IV anesthetic with N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-blocking properties. However, it is still unclear whether ketamine's general anesthetic actions are mediated primarily via blockade of NMDAR. Functional NMDARs are composed by the assembly of a GluRzeta1 (NR1) subunit with GluRepsilon (GluRepsilon1-4; NR2A-D) subunits, which confer unique properties on native NMDARs.

Repetitive afferent stimulation propagates excitation in the trigeminal caudalis.

A high-speed optical imaging technique was employed for visualizing neuronal excitation propagation elicited by afferent stimulation in the mouse trigeminal caudalis (Vc) to clarify the central nociceptive modulation mechanism. Membrane depolarization evoked by a single-pulse stimulation to the spinal trigeminal tract (Tr) was propagated rostrally to the Vc, which was suppressed by CNQX. This is consistent with our morphological observation that axons expand from the Tr into the Vc.

Male rats require testosterone to develop contralateral digastric muscle activity in response to noxious stimulation of the temporomandibular joint.

The influence of testosterone on the postnatal development of reflex electromyographic (EMG) jaw muscle activity evoked by injection of mustard oil (MO) into the temporomandibular joint region and the later recurrence of this EMG activity after intravenous injection of naloxone, was studied in male rats. MO-evoked EMG activity in the contralateral digastric muscle and naloxone-induced recurrence of this EMG activity were fully developed in intact, 8-week-old rats. Castration at 4 weeks of age inhibited the development of the contralateral MO-evoked EMG activity, but did not influence the naloxone-induced recurrence.

Intrathecal administration of 5-HT(3) receptor agonist modulates jaw muscle activity evoked by injection of mustard oil into the temporomandibular joint in the rat.

The effect of intrathecal administration of the 5-HT(3) receptor agonist 2-methyl-5-hydroxytryptamine (2m-5HT) on jaw muscle activity evoked by mustard oil (MO) injection into the temporomandibular joint of anesthetized rats was examined. One microgram or 100 microg of 2m-5HT significantly enhanced or suppressed jaw muscle responses, respectively. Pre-administration of tropisetron, a 5-HT(3) receptor antagonist, attenuated the effect of 2m-5HT.