Estrogens as a Possible Therapeutic Strategy for the Management of Neuroinflammation and Neuroprotection in COVID-19.

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affects several tissues, including the central and peripheral nervous system. It has also been related to signs and symptoms that suggest neuroinflammation with possible effects in the short, medium, and long term. Estrogens could have a positive impact on the management of the disease, not only due to its already known immunomodulator effect, but also activating other pathways that may be important in the pathophysiology of COVID-19, such as the regulation of the virus receptor and its metabolites.

Role of the MicroRNAs in the Pathogenic Mechanism of Painful Symptoms in Long COVID: Systematic Review.

The ongoing pandemic of COVID-19 has caused more than 6.7 million tragic deaths, plus, a large percentage of people who survived it present a myriad of chronic symptoms that last for at least 6 months; this has been named as long COVID. Some of the most prevalent are painful symptoms like headache, joint pain, migraine, neuropathic-like pain, fatigue and myalgia.

Neuropathic Pain in Parkinson's Disease.

Pain is a well-recognized and important non-motor manifestation in Parkinson disease (PD). Painful or unpleasant sensations in PD can be classified as musculoskeletal, dystonia, akathisia, radicular, and central or primary pain; the last two are associated with neuropathic pain. Particularly, neuropathic pain in PD has not been fully clarified; therefore, it goes somewhat unnoticed, and the affected patients do not receive adequate pain treatment.

The emerging role of ultrasound in detecting interstitial lung disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To investigate the potential role of US in the detection of ILD in a cohort of patients with RA.

Methods: Patients with diagnosis of RA were consecutively enrolled. All patients underwent pulmonary examination, laboratory data, DLCO measure, chest HRCT and radiographs, and US examination.

Putative mechanism of neurological damage in COVID-19 infection.

The recent pandemic of the coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected around 192 countries, and projections have shown that around 40% to 70% of world population could be infected in the next months. COVID-19 is caused by the virus SARS- CoV-2, it enters the cells through the ACE2 receptor (angiotensin converting enzyme 2). It is well known that SARS-CoV-2 could develop mild, moderate, and severe respiratory symptoms that could lead to death.

Neurophysiological Mechanisms Related to Pain Management in Bone Tumors.

Background: Primary and metastatic bone tumor incidence has increased in the previous years. Pain is a common symptom and is one of the most important related factors to the decrease of quality of life in patients with bone tumor. Different pain management strategies are not completely effective and many patients afflicted by cancer pain cannot be controlled properly.

The Mechanisms of Action of Botulinum Toxin Type A in Nociceptive and Neuropathic Pathways in Cancer Pain.

Background: Botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) is widely employed for cosmetic purposes and in the treatment of certain diseases such as strabismus, hemifacial spasm and focal dystonia among others. BoNT-A effect mainly acts at the muscular level by inhibiting the release of acetylcholine at presynaptic levels consequently blocking the action potential in the neuromuscular junction. Despite the great progress in approval and pharmaceutical usage, improvement in displacing BoNT-A to other pathologies has remained very limited.

Chemical Mediators' Expression Associated with the Modulation of Pain in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Background: The management of pain in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a complex subject due to the autoimmune nature of the pathology. Studies have shown that chemical mediators play a fundamental role in the determination, susceptibility and modulation of pain at different levels of the central and peripheral nervous system, resulting in interesting novel molecular targets to mitigate pain in patients with RA. However, due to the complexity of pain physiology in RA cand the many chemical mediators, the results of several studies are controversial.

Subclinical Interstitial Lung Disease in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis. A Pilot Study on the Role of Ultrasound.

Introduction: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a common comorbidity present in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Employment of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is very limited and lung ultrasound (LUS) can be an alternative tool for the early evaluation of ILD.

Objective: To determine the validity of LUS in the early detection of ILD in patients with SSc.

Ultrasound as a Useful Tool in the Diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis in Patients With Undifferentiated Arthritis.

Background: Nowadays, rheumatologists face challenges in finding an effective method to classify and treat patients with undifferentiated arthritis (UA). There is a need for new tools that could ensure accurate characterization of inflammatory processes in these patients.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate if a characterization of UA patients using ultrasound (US) may help to fulfill the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) rheumatoid arthritis (RA) classification criteria in a real-life cohort.

Antinociceptive and pronociceptive effect of levetiracetam in tonic pain model.

Background: Levetiracetam (LEV) is a novel anticonvulsant with proven antinociceptive properties. However, the antinociceptive and pronociceptive effect of this drug has not yet been fully elucidated in a tonic pain model.

Methods: Thirty-six male rats (Wistar) were randomized into six groups and underwent the formalin test as follows: rats in the control group were administered 50μL of 1% formalin in the paw; sham-group rats were administered 50μL of saline in the paw to mimick the application of formalin; the four experimental groups were administered LEV intragastrically (ig) (50, 100, 200 and 300mg/kg), and 40min later 50μL of 1% formalin was injected in the paw.

Review: 5-HT1, 5-HT2, 5-HT3 and 5-HT7 Receptors and their Role in the Modulation of Pain Response in the Central Nervous System.

Background: The aim of this review was to identify the mechanisms by which serotonin receptors involved at the central level are able to modulate the nociceptive response. Pain is a defense mechanism of the body that entails physiological, anatomical, neurochemical, and psychological changes, and is defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience with potential risk of tissue damage, comprising the leading cause of appointments with Physicians worldwide. Treatment for this symptom has generated several neuropharmacological lines of research, due to the different types of pain and the various drugs employed to treat this condition.