Effect of transportation method on preoperative anxiety in children: a randomized controlled trial / 대한마취과학회지

Background@#This study was performed to evaluate the effect of a wagon as a transport vehicle instead of the standard stretcher car to reduce children’s anxiety of separation from parents. The secondary goal was to evaluate whether this anxiolytic effect was related to age. @*Methods@#We divided 80 children (age 2–7 years) into two groups. The stretcher group was transferred to the operating room on a conventional stretcher car, whereas the wagon group was transferred using a wagon. The level of anxiety was evaluated three times using the Modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS): in the waiting area (T0), in the hallway to the operating room (T1), and before induction of anesthesia (T2). @*Results@#The mYPAS score was significantly lower in the wagon group (36.7 [31.7, 51.7]) than in the stretcher group (51.7 [36.7, 83.3]) at T1 (P = 0.007). However, there was no difference in the mYPAS score between the two groups at T2 (46.7 [32.5, 54.2] vs. 51.7 [36.7, 75.0], respectively, P = 0.057). The baseline anxiety tended to be lower with increasing age (r = −0.248, P = 0.031). During transportation to the operating room, the increase in the mYPAS score (T1-T0) was greater as the age of children decreased in the stretcher group (r = −0.340, P = 0.034). However, no correlation was observed in the wagon group (r = −0.053, P = 0.756). @*Conclusion@#The wagon method decreased preoperative anxiety, suggesting that it may be a good alternative for reducing preoperative anxiety in children.

The Relationship between Suicide Attempts and Serum Lipids in Patients Admitted with Depression / 정신신체의학

OBJECTIVES: Depression is a common mental illness and a major cause of suicide. Although serum lipids have been associated with depression and suicide, there has been much debate. In this study, we investigated the relationship between depression, suicide, and serum lipids in patients admitted with depressed mood. METHODS: A total of 134 subjects were divided into 86 non-suicide patients and 48 suicide attempters. The serum lipid levels and sub-scores of the Korean Symptom Checklist-95 (KSCL95) were compared. We also investigated the relationship between serum lipids and sub-scores of KSCL95 and investigated whether serum lipids were risk factors for suicide attempts. RESULTS: There was no difference in serum lipids between the two groups. Among the sub-items of KSCL95, obsession was higher in non-suicide group. Triglyceride showed positive correlations with anxiety, phobic anxiety, agoraphobia, schizophrenia, and self-regulation problem. High triglyceride was a risk factor for suicide attempts. CONCLUSIONS: Triglyceride is associated with depression, anxiety, and self - regulation, and high serum triglyceride levels may be a risk factor for suicide attempts.

Piperidylmethyloxychalcone improves immune-mediated acute liver failure via inhibiting TAK1 activity

Mice deficient in the toll-like receptor (TLR) or the myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) are resistant to acute liver failure (ALF) with sudden death of hepatocytes. Chalcone derivatives from medicinal plants protect from hepatic damages including ALF, but their mechanisms remain to be clarified. Here, we focused on molecular basis of piperidylmethyloxychalcone (PMOC) in the treatment of TLR/MyD88-associated ALF. C57BL/6J mice were sensitized with D-galactosamine (GalN) and challenged with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS, TLR4 agonist) or oligodeoxynucleotide containing unmethylated CpG motif (CpG ODN, TLR9 agonist) for induction of ALF. Post treatment with PMOC sequentially ameliorated hepatic inflammation, apoptosis of hepatocytes, severe liver injury and shock-mediated death in ALF-induced mice. As a mechanism, PMOC inhibited the catalytic activity of TGF-β-activated kinase 1 (TAK1) in a competitive manner with respect to ATP, displaced fluorescent ATP probe from the complex with TAK1, and docked at the ATP-binding active site on the crystal structure of TAK1. Moreover, PMOC inhibited TAK1 auto-phosphorylation, which is an axis in the activating pathways of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) or activating protein 1 (AP1), in the liver with ALF in vivo or in primary liver cells stimulated with TLR agonists in vitro. PMOC consequently suppressed TAK1-inducible NF-κB or AP1 activity in the inflammatory injury, an early pathogenesis leading to ALF. The results suggested that PMOC could contribute to the treatment of TLR/MyD88-associated ALF with the ATP-binding site of TAK1 as a potential therapeutic target.

NgR1 Expressed in P19 Embryonal Carcinoma Cells Differentiated by Retinoic Acid Can Activate STAT3

NgR1, a Nogo receptor, is involved in inhibition of neurite outgrowth and axonal regeneration and regulation of synaptic plasticity. P19 embryonal carcinoma cells were induced to differentiate into neuron-like cells using all trans-retinoic acid and the presence and/or function of cellular molecules, such as NgR1, NMDA receptors and STAT3, were examined. Neuronally differentiated P19 cells expressed the mRNA and protein of NgR1, which could stimulate the phosphorylation of STAT3 when activated by Nogo-P4 peptide, an active segment of Nogo-66. During the whole period of differentiation, mRNAs of all of the NMDA receptor subtypes tested (NR1, NR2A-2D) were consistently expressed, which meant that neuronally differentiated P19 cells maintained some characteristics of neurons, especially central nervous system neurons. Our results suggests that neuronally differentiated P19 cells expressing NgR1 may be an efficient and convenient in vitro model for studying the molecular mechanism of cellular events that involve NgR1 and its binding partners, and for screening compounds that activate or inhibit NgR1.

Vasopressin ameliorates hypotension induced by beach chair positioning in a dose-dependent manner in patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery under general anesthesia / 대한마취과학회지

BACKGROUND: The beach chair position (BCP) is associated with hypotension that may lead to cerebral ischemia. Arginine vasopressin (AVP), a potent vasoconstrictor, has been shown to prevent hypotension in BCP. It also improves cerebral oxygenation in different animal models. The present study examined the effect of escalating doses of AVP on systemic hemodynamics and cerebral oxygenation during surgery in BCP under general anesthesia. METHODS: Sixty patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery in BCP under general anesthesia were randomly allocated to receive either saline (control, n = 15) or three different doses of AVP (0.025, 0.05, or 0.075 U/kg; n = 15 each) 2 minutes before BCP. Mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), regional cerebral oxygen saturation (SctO2), and jugular venous oxygen saturation (SjvO2) were measured after induction of anesthesia and before (presitting in supine position) and after BCP. RESULTS: AVP per se given before BCP increased MAP, and decreased SjvO2, SctO2, and HR in all patients (P 20% SctO2 decrease from the baseline value) with no differences in SjvO2 and the incidence of SjvO2 < 50% or SjvO2 < 40% among the groups. CONCLUSIONS: AVP ameliorates hypotension associated with BCP in a dose-dependent manner in patients undergoing shoulder surgery under general anesthesia. However, AVP may have negative effects on SctO2 before and after BCP and on SjvO2 before BCP.

Spinal Noradrenergic Modulation and the Role of the Alpha-2 Receptor in the Antinociceptive Effect of Intrathecal Nefopam in the Formalin Test

BACKGROUND: Nefopam has shown an analgesic effect on acute pain including postoperative pain. The reuptake of monoamines including serotonin and noradrenaline has been proposed as the mechanism of the analgesic action of nefopam, but it remains unclear. Although alpha-adrenergic agents are being widely used in the perioperative period, the role of noradrenergic modulation in the analgesic effect of nefopam has not been fully addressed. METHODS: Changes in the antinociceptive effect of intrathecal (i.t.) nefopam against formalin-elicited flinching responses were explored in Sprague-Dawley rats pretreated with i.t. 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), which depletes spinal noradrenaline. In addition, antagonism to the effect of nefopam by prazosin and yohimbine was evaluated to further elucidate the antinociceptive mechanism of i.t. nefopam. RESULTS: Pretreatment with i.t. 6-OHDA alone did not alter the flinching responses in either phase of the formalin test, while it attenuated the antinociceptive effect of i.t. nefopam significantly during phase 1, but not phase 2. The antagonist of the alpha-2 receptor, but not the alpha-1 receptor, reduced partially, but significantly, the antinociceptive effect of i.t. nefopam during phase 1, but not during phase 2. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that spinal noradrenergic modulation plays an important role in the antinociceptive effect of i.t. nefopam against formalin-elicited acute initial pain, but not facilitated pain, and this action involves the spinal alpha-2 but not the alpha-1 receptor.