The effects of acute oral naltrexone pretreatment on the abuse potential of intranasal methamphetamine, and the relationship between reward/punishment sensitivity and methamphetamine's effects.

One potential medication for treating methamphetamine use disorder is the opioid antagonist naltrexone (NLTX). Despite encouraging preclinical findings, the results of clinical studies have been mixed. The primary aim of the current trial was to examine the effects of acute NLTX pretreatment on the subjective and reinforcing effects of intranasal methamphetamine.

Scientific Publishing in Biomedicine: Revising a Peer-reviewed Manuscript.

Getting feedback from the journals' editorial office upon the peer-review process, revising the manuscript, and responding to reviewers' comments are the essential parts of scientific publishing. The process of revising seems cumbersome and time-consuming as authors must be engaged probably with many comments and requested changes. Authors are advised to approach the reviewer as a consultant rather than an adversary.

Association between self-reported body mass index and active life expectancy in a large community-dwelling sample of older U.S. adults.

Background: Obesity may have a protective effect (greater survival) in older adults, a finding known as the "obesity paradox." This study examined the association between self-reported body mass index (BMI) and active life expectancy (ALE) among older U.S.

Association between serum hydrogen sulfide concentrations and dysglycemia: a population-based study.

Background And Aim: Hydrogen sulfide (HS), a signaling gasotransmitter, is involved in carbohydrate metabolism. Here, we aimed to assess the potential association between serum HS and dysglycemia in the framework of a population-based study.

Methods: Adults men and women with completed data (n = 798), who participated in the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study (2014-2017) were included in the study.

Design and Characterization of a Recombinant RB51 Vaccine That Elicits Enhanced T Cell-Mediated Immune Response.

vaccines help control bovine brucellosis. The RB51 strain is a live attenuated vaccine with low side effects compared with other live attenuated brucellosis vaccines, but it provides insufficient protective efficacy. Cell-mediated immune responses are critical in resistance against intracellular bacterial infections.

Molecular targets of statins and their potential side effects: Not all the glitter is gold.

Statins are a class of drugs widely used worldwide to manage hypercholesterolemia and the prevention of secondary heart attacks. Currently, available statins vary in terms of their pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles. Although the primary target of statins is the inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase (HMGR), the rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol biosynthesis, statins exhibit many pleiotropic effects downstream of the mevalonate pathway.

The role of vagus nerve stimulation in genetic etiologies of drug-resistant epilepsy: a meta-analysis.

Objective: Drug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) affects many children. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) may improve seizure control; however, its role in children with genetic etiologies of epilepsy is not well described. The authors systematically reviewed the literature to examine the effectiveness of VNS in this cohort.

Evaluation of the ASPEN guidelines for refeeding syndrome among hospitalized patients receiving enteral nutrition: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Until recently, refeeding syndrome (RFS) has lacked standardized diagnostic criteria. This study sought to (1) determine whether RFS, as operationalized in the 2020 American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) guideline definition, is associated with adverse clinical outcomes and (2) identify key risk factors for RFS.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, adults hospitalized from 2015 to 2019 were included if they were ordered for enteral feeding during hospitalization.

Histories of pervasive gender-based violence in asylum-seeking women who have undergone female genital mutilation or cutting.

Few studies have described the broader experience of survivors of female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C) who have sought asylum in the United States. To gain a better understanding of their exposure to gender-based violence (GBV), the study was conducted to help uncover themes and patterns of co-occurring individual and community factors among women asylum seekers who experienced FGM/C before they arrived in the United States. Following a retrospective chart review of FGM/C cases seen in a human rights clinic, 35 women met the inclusion criteria.

NSAIDs and Cancer Resolution: New Paradigms beyond Cyclooxygenase.

Acute inflammation or resolved inflammation is an adaptive host defense mechanism and is self-limiting, which returns the body to a state of homeostasis. However, unresolved, uncontrolled, or chronic inflammation may lead to various maladies, including cancer. Important evidence that links inflammation and cancer is that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as aspirin, reduce the risk and mortality from many cancers.

Stalled Progress: Medical School Dean Demographics.

Medical schools have an important directive: to train the next generation of physicians. Faced with a primary care physician shortage, increasing numbers of under-represented faculty leaving academic medicine, low representation of women in leadership positions, and an ongoing pandemic, medical schools have a duty to implement solutions to alleviate these issues. Efforts have been made to create more diverse medical school classes, but those efforts are not mirrored in senior faculty demographics.

Neuroplasticity of spinal cord injury and repair.

The sudden loss of movement after spinal cord injury (SCI) is life-changing and is a major impetus to study spinal cord motor system plasticity and devise novel repair strategies. This review focuses on the motor cortex and the corticospinal tract, which are key to producing voluntary movements. The motor cortex projects directly to the spinal cord, via the corticospinal tract, and indirectly, via relays in the brain stem.

Neuroplasticity in dystonia: Motor symptoms and beyond.

This chapter first focuses on the role of altered neuroplasticity mechanisms and their regulation in the genesis of motor symptoms in the various forms of dystonia. In particular, a review of the available literature about focal dystonia suggests that use-dependent plasticity may become detrimental and produce dystonia when practice and repetition are excessive and predisposing conditions are present. Interestingly, recent evidence also shows that functional or psychogenic dystonia, despite the normal plasticity in the sensorimotor system, is characterized by plasticity-related dysfunction within limbic regions.

Role of nitric oxide in type 1 diabetes-induced osteoporosis.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D)-induced osteoporosis is characterized by decreased bone mineral density, bone quality, rate of bone healing, bone formation, and increased bone resorption. Patients with T1D have a 2-7-fold higher risk of osteoporotic fracture. The mechanisms leading to increased risk of osteoporotic fracture in T1D include insulin deficiency, hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, lower insulin-like growth factor-1, hyperglycemia-induced oxidative stress, and inflammation.

Spinal cord representation of motor cortex plasticity reflects corticospinal tract LTP.

Although it is well known that activity-dependent motor cortex (MCX) plasticity produces long-term potentiation (LTP) of local cortical circuits, leading to enhanced muscle function, the effects on the corticospinal projection to spinal neurons has not yet been thoroughly studied. Here, we investigate a spinal locus for corticospinal tract (CST) plasticity in anesthetized rats using multichannel recording of motor-evoked, intraspinal local field potentials (LFPs) at the sixth cervical spinal cord segment. We produced LTP by intermittent theta burst electrical stimulation (iTBS) of the wrist area of MCX.

"Making a Way Out of No Way:" Understanding the Sexual and Reproductive Health Care Experiences of Transmasculine Young Adults of Color in the United States.

Research focusing on the specific and unique sexual and reproductive health care experiences of transmasculine young adults of color are extremely scarce. We conducted five focus group discussions with 19 Black, Latinx, Asian, Native, and other transmasculine individuals of color aged 18-25 years in the greater Boston area. Using thematic analysis, we found that transmasculine young adults of color experienced cissexism, heterosexism, and racism in accessing and utilizing sexual and reproductive health services.

Macrophage Reprogramming and Cancer Therapeutics: Role of iNOS-Derived NO.

Nitric oxide and its production by iNOS is an established mechanism critical to tumor promotion or suppression. Macrophages have important roles in immunity, development, and progression of cancer and have a controversial role in pro- and antitumoral effects. The tumor microenvironment consists of tumor-associated macrophages (TAM), among other cell types that influence the fate of the growing tumor.

Health Inequality Analysis in Europe: Exploring the Potential of the EQ-5D as Outcome.

This study explored the additive value of the multi-item EuroQol 5-Dimension 5-Level (EQ-5D-5L) as an outcome measure in health inequality analyses, relative to the single-item EuroQol visual analog scale (EQ VAS). A sample comprising the general population from Italy, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom (UK) completed the EQ-5D-5L and the EQ VAS. The level of education was selected as a proxy for socio-economic status (SES).

The laboratory rat: Age and body weight matter.

Animal experimentation helps us to understand human biology. Rodents and, in particular, rats are among the most common animals used in animal experiments. Reporting data on animal age, animal body weight, and animal postnatal developmental stages is not consistent, which can cause the failure to translate animal data to humans.

Long Term Sodium Nitrate Administration Positively Impacts Metabolic and Obesity Indices in Ovariectomized Rats.

Background: In postmenopausal women, nitric oxide (NO) deficiency is associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D). This study aims at determining the long-term effects of low-dose nitrate administration on metabolic and obesity indices in ovariectomized (OVX) rats.

Methods: OVX rat model was induced using the two dorsolateral skin incision method.

Bremelanotide and flibanserin for low sexual desire in women: the fallacy of regulatory precedent.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved two drugs for 'hypoactive sexual desire disorder' in women, flibanserin (Addyi) in 2015 and bremelanotide (Vyleesi) in 2019. In this paper we examine the outcome measures and clinical trial data upon which regulatory approval was based. In clinical trials, flibanserin led to an average of only one additional enjoyable sexual experience every two months, bremelanotide to none.

Complications of combination intranasal corticosteroids and anti-retroviral therapy.

Background: Intranasal corticosteroids are widely used for management of many upper airway diseases because of their ability to effectively deliver local relief of inflammation.

Case Report: This paper presents the case of a 51-year-old man with human immunodeficiency virus treated with ritonavir who was started on fluticasone intranasal spray for presumed chronic rhinosinusitis. Months after starting this therapy, he developed symptoms of Cushing's syndrome and avascular necrosis of the shoulder due to the pharmacological interactions between fluticasone and ritonavir.