Correlation analysis of heart rate variations and glucose fluctuations during sleep.

Objective: The body's glucose concentration is influenced by carbohydrate intake, insulin-induced carbohydrate reduction, and hepatic glycogen breakdown induced by stress hormones. This study investigated the potential of employing glucose fluctuations as a measure of stress by examining the relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) data and glucose levels during sleep in healthy subjects.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a chest-worn electrocardiogram (ECG) and continuous glucose monitoring device (CGM) were respectively used to monitor the heart rate intervals and glucose fluctuations of five subjects (two males, three females) during sleep.

[Acupuncture; as a valuable tool for headache].

Acupuncture is known as the effective tool for headache, but the mechanism of the effect is unknown. We already revealed the acupuncture effect in the clinical team of headache center in Keio University Hospital. Therefore, we tried to establish the animal model for elucidation of mechanism of acupuncture effect in the pathophysiology of headache.

Reduction of TRPV1 expression in the trigeminal system by botulinum neurotoxin type-A.

Botulinum neurotoxin type-A (BoNT-A) is clinically used for patients with pain disorders and dystonia. The precise mechanism whereby BoNT-A controls pain remains elusive. Here, we studied how BoNT-A affects the expression of the transient receptor potential vanilloid subfamily member 1 (TRPV1), a cation channel critically implicated in nociception, in the trigeminal system.

Alterations in microglia and astrocytes in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis by repetitive TRPV1 stimulation on the trigeminal nociceptors.

TRPV1 is a nonselective cation channel in nociceptors. TRPV1 stimulation has been shown to lead to the activation of microglia and astrocytes in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. However, information on the effect of TRPV1 stimulation on glial activation in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis (TNC) is lacking.