Anesthetic requirements and stress hormone responses in chronic spinal cord-injured patients undergoing surgery below the level of injury: nitrous oxide vs remifentanil.

Background: Nitrous oxide (N2O) and remifentanil both have anesthetic-reducing and antinociceptive effects. We aimed to determine the anesthetic requirements and stress hormone responses in spinal cord-injured (SCI) patients undergoing surgery under sevoflurane anesthesia with or without pharmacodynamically equivalent doses of N2O or remifentanil.

Methods: Forty-five chronic, complete SCI patients undergoing surgery below the level of injury were randomly allocated to receive sevoflurane alone (control, n = 15), or in combination with 67% N2O (n = 15) or target-controlled infusion of 1.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate, a green tea catechin, protects the heart against regional ischemia-reperfusion injuries through activation of RISK survival pathways in rats.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the major catechin derived from green tea, has been shown to modulate numerous molecular targets in the setting of inflammation. This study aimed to determine whether EGCG protects against regional myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injuries and its underlying mechanisms involving the role of reperfusion injury salvage kinase (RISK) pathways (PI3K-Akt and ERK 1/2) and GSK-3β or apoptotic kinases (p38 and JNK). The rats were subjected to I/R injuries consisting of 30 min ischemia followed by 2 h reperfusion.

Propofol attenuates pulmonary injury induced by collapse and reventilation of lung in rabbits.

Propofol is an anesthetic drug with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. We previously found that propofol attenuated lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury in rabbits. This study was performed to evaluate the effects of propofol on lung injury caused by collapse and reventilation in rabbits.

Protective effect of sauchinone against regional myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury: inhibition of p38 MAPK and JNK death signaling pathways.

Sauchinone has been known to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. We determined whether sauchinone is beneficial in regional myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. Rats were subjected to 20 min occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery, followed by 2 hr reperfusion.

Curcumin protects against regional myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury through activation of RISK/GSK-3β and inhibition of p38 MAPK and JNK.

Background: Curcumin, the active ingredient of turmeric (Curcuma longa), is known to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidative properties. The present study was aimed to determine the effect of curcumin in regional myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury and its underlying mechanisms involving the role of prosurvival kinases and apoptotic kinases.

Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 109) subjected to a 30-minute left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) occlusion followed by reperfusion were assigned to receive saline (control), curcumin (100 mg/kg), wortmannin (inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol-3-OH kinase [PI3K]-Akt), wortmannin + curcumin, U0126 (inhibitor of extracellular signal-regulated kinase [ERK1/2]), U0126 + curcumin, SB216763 (inhibitor of glycogen synthase kinase [GSK-3β]), and SB216763 + curcumin 20 minutes before LAD occlusion.

Neuroprotective effects of remifentanil against transient focal cerebral ischemia in rats.

Background: Opioid agonists have been implicated in neuroprotection from hypoxic injury through regulating mitogen-activated protein kinases and cytokines. We determined the effects of remifentanil in focal brain ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury. Mechanisms linked to mitogen-activated protein kinases, including extracellular signaling-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, p38 kinases, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and various cytokines were also examined.

Fatal pulmonary embolism caused by thrombosis of contralateral axillary vein after arthroscopic right rotator cuff repair -A case report-.

A clinically apparent thromboembolism associated with arthroscopic shoulder surgery is extremely rare. We report a case of a fatal pulmonary embolism developed after an arthroscopic rotator cuff repair in a 45-year-old woman. On the first day after surgery, she experienced syncope that was complicated by cardiac arrest.

Sauchinone, a lignan from Saururus chinensis, reduces tumor necrosis factor-alpha production through the inhibition of c-raf/MEK1/2/ERK 1/2 pathway activation.

We investigated the anti-inflammatory effects of sauchinone, a lignan isolated from Saururus chinensis, and the underlying mechanism in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 cells. To assess the effects of sauchinone on LPS-induced macrophages activation, we measured the production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-2, and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) including extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, c-Jun amino terminal kinases and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase, and NF-kappaB activation in RAW264.

Effect of ulinastatin on cytokine reaction during gastrectomy.

Background: Inflammation plays an important role in the postoperative morbidity of organs, which is related to the activation of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Ulinastatin (Urinary trypsin inhibitor, UTI) is a serine protease inhibitor found in human urine or serum that inhibits the activation of human leukocyte elastase. This study examined the effect of UTI on the inflammation response in patients undergoing a gastrectomy.

Recurrent attacks of post-intubation right upper lobe atelectasis.

A 22-year-old woman with no history of asthma developed an acute recurrent attack of severe bronchoconstriction and right upper lobe atelectasis immediately after laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation. The first attack had taken place 2 months earlier under identical circumstances. Induction of anesthesia for tracheal intubation was achieved using propofol, fentanyl, and rocuronium.

Angiotensin II type 1 receptor-mediated upregulation of calcineurin activity underlies impairment of cardioprotective signaling in diabetic hearts.

Rationale: The diabetic heart is resistant to ischemic preconditioning because of diabetes-associated impairment of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt signaling. The mechanism by which PI3K-Akt signaling is impaired by diabetes remains unclear.

Objective: Here, we examined the hypothesis that phosphorylation of Jak2 upstream of PI3K is impaired in diabetic hearts by an angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor-mediated mechanism.

The effect of epigallocatechin gallate on lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury in a murine model.

This study was performed to evaluate the effects of epigallocatechin 3 gallate (EGCG) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury in a murine model. In the present study, production of TNF-alpha and MIP-2 and activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK)1/2, c-Jun amino terminal kinases (JNK) and p38 in RAW264.7 cells were measured.

Comparison of intubating conditions and hemodynamic responses to tracheal intubation with different effect-site concentrations of remifentanil without muscle relaxants during target-controlled infusion of propofol.

Background: We compared the effects of different remifentanil effect-site concentrations on intubating conditions, and cardiovascular and bispectral index score (BIS) responses to intubation at a fixed effect-site concentration of propofol without muscle relaxants.

Methods: Sixty-four patients were randomly assigned to one of three groups: remifentanil 2 (group R2, n = 22), 4 (group R4, n = 21), or 6 ng/ml (group R6, n = 21). Anesthesia was induced using target-controlled infusion of propofol 5 microgram/ml and each concentration of remifentanil.

Effect of mixed administration of propofol and rocuronium on intubating conditions.

Background: We investigated whether the intubating condition change acoording to the methods of administration of propofol and rocuronium.

Methods: Ninety adult patients (ASA physical status I or II) undergoing elective surgery were randomly assigned to one of three groups; Group I (n = 30) received rocuronium (0.6 mg/kg) after administration of propofol (2 mg/kg), Group II (n = 30) received propofol and rocuronium simultaneously via different intravenous routes, and Group III (n = 30) received a mixture of propofol and rocuronium via same intravenous route.

Roles of adenosine receptor subtypes in the antinociceptive effect of intrathecal adenosine in a rat formalin test.

The contributions of adenosine receptor subtypes to antinociception produced by adenosine were determined at the spinal level. There are 4 types of adenosine receptors, namely A1, A(2A), A(2B) and A3. The authors investigated the properties of the subtypes of spinal adenosine receptors in terms of nociceptive modulation.

Lack of reciprocity between opioid and 5-HT3 receptors for antinociception in rat spinal cord.

We examined the properties of the drug interaction between morphine and 5-HT(3) receptor antagonist at the spinal level. The nociceptive state was induced by subcutaneously injecting formalin solution (5%, 50 microl) into the hindpaw of the rats. Intrathecal morphine and m-CPBG (5-HT(3) receptor agonist) dose-dependently decreased the flinching response during phase 1 and phase 2 in the formalin test.

Anesthetic requirements and stress hormone responses in spinal cord-injured patients undergoing surgery below the level of injury.

Neuraxial anesthesia decreases the minimum alveolar concentration. We determined the effects of spinal cord injury (SCI) on sevoflurane requirements and stress hormone response. Twenty-two chronic SCI patients undergoing surgery below the level of the injury were enrolled in the study, and 15 patients without cord injury served as control patients.

Antinociceptive effects and synergistic interaction with morphine of intrathecal metabotropic glutamate receptor 2/3 antagonist in the formalin test of rats.

Spinal metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) have been known to be involved in the modulation of nociception. While the antinociceptive effects of the mGluR1/5 have been demonstrated, the role of mGluR2/3 for nociception is less clear. This study investigated the effects of an intrathecal mGluR2/3 agonist, APDC, and a mGluR2/3 antagonist, LY341495, for inflammatory and acute pain in the formalin test and thermal stimulation test.