Orofacial pain affects 10-15% of adults and can severely impact quality of life. Despite ongoing treatment challenges, monoterpene alpha-phellandrene (PHE) shows potential therapeutic benefits. This study aimed to develop and evaluate an inclusion complex of PHE with hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (PHE-HPβCD) for treating orofacial pain. The PHE-HPβCD complex was created using physical mixing and characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to determine encapsulation efficiency. The complex exhibited a 70.45% encapsulation efficiency. Male Swiss mice were used in models of orofacial pain induced by formalin, cinnamaldehyde, glutamate, and corneal nociception by hypertonic saline. Additionally, cytokine levels (TNF-α and IL-1β) were measured in the upper lip tissue of mice subjected to the formalin model. Both PHE and PHE-HPβCD showed significant antinociceptive effects at a 50 mg/kg dose during formalin-induced pain, reducing both neurogenic and inflammatory phases of pain. PHE-HPβCD also reduced TNF-α and IL-1β levels. For cinnamaldehyde and glutamate-induced nociception, both treatments reduced pain behavior, but only PHE-HPβCD decreased eye wipes in corneal nociception. These results suggest that PHE, especially in complexed form, alleviates orofacial pain by potentially modulating pain-related receptors (TRPA1 and TRPV1), mediators, like glutamate, and reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines. Further research is needed to explore the precise mechanisms of PHE in chronic orofacial pain models, but the study indicates promising avenues for new pain treatments.
Department of Psychiatry, Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, 1 Bowdoin Square, Suite 106, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
Chronic orofacial pain (COFP; i.e., musculoskeletal, neurovascular, or neuropathic pain in the face, mouth, or jaw that lasts for at least 3 months) is prevalent and debilitating.
Purpose: To assess the impact of retrograde dissection of the facial nerve along the mandibular margin on the postoperative quality of life in patients with benign superficial parotid tumors.
Methods: One hundred and sixteen patients who underwent surgical treatment for benign superficial parotid tumors at Qingdao Central Hospital from January 2020 to January 2023 were involved. The patients were randomly allocated into two groups, with 58 patients in each group using the touch ball method.
Background: Burkitt's lymphoma (BL) is the most common subtype of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in children, typically presenting with extranodal masses in areas such as the abdomen, face, and neck. Cardiac involvement in BL is extremely rare, especially in pediatric patients, and has significant implications for diagnosis, management, and prognosis.
Case Presentation: A 6-year-old male patient with Burkitt's lymphoma, presenting with an uncommon infiltration of the interatrial septum, is described.
We describe a case of orbital cellulitis with abscess formation following eyebrow piercing complicated by internal jugular vein thrombosis and subretinal abscesses requiring enucleation with orbital abscess drainage. The popularity of body piercing is increasing and physicians should be familiar with the possibility and management of vision-threatening complications of facial piercing. Following left eyebrow piercing, a 20-year-old female experienced increasing periorbital swelling, erythema, chemosis, orbital pain, decreased vision, and concomitant fever, chills, and rhinorrhea.
Facial landmarks, widely studied in human affective computing, are beginning to gain interest in the animal domain. Specifically, landmark-based geometric morphometric methods have been used to objectively assess facial expressions in cats, focusing on pain recognition and the impact of breed-specific morphology on facial signaling. These methods employed a 48-landmark scheme grounded in cat facial anatomy.
