A descriptive study of welfare and mental health issues among health-related sciences undergraduate students at the Medical University of Gdansk.

PURPOSE AND METHODS: We surveyed a large sample of health-related sciences undergraduate students at the Medical University of Gdansk (MUG), Poland in a pilot study to assess self-reported somatic/mental health-related issues, measure the level of burnout using Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI), the presence of depressive symptoms with Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item (PHQ-9) and assess the problematic alcohol intake (CAGE questionnaire). Additionally, stress coping mechanisms were investigated. RESULTS: A total of 864 students participated in the survey. The mean total OLBI and PHQ-9 scores equalled 43.3 ± 2.7 and 11.3±5.8 points, respectively. The CAGE questionnaire was positive in 21.6% of students. Three most prevalent stress coping mechanisms included TV binge-watching, binge-eating and cigarette chain smoking (51.0%, 45.0% and 28.0% respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Future studies are required to confirm the obtained results, assess, and monitor trends and set-up interventions to improve the welfare of health-related science MUG students.

Tachykinin antagonists ameliorate surgically induced impairment of gastrointestinal motility in rats.

The protective effects of tachykinin receptor antagonists: SR140333 (NK1 receptor), SR48968 (NK2 receptor), and SB222200 (NK3 receptor) were tested in rats against a surgically induced postoperative inhibition of gut motility, a common complication of abdominal surgery. The small intestinal transit of Evans blue was measured 24-h post-surgery in untreated rats and animals subjected to skin incision, laparotomy, or laparotomy followed by gut evisceration and manipulation. Surgical procedures were conducted under diethyl ether anesthesia. In comparison to untreated and ether-anesthetized rats, animals undergoing skin incision, laparotomy, or laparotomy with gut evisceration and manipulation showed a significant decrease in the intestinal transit of Evans blue. The pretreatment with NK1 (3-100 µg/kg), NK2 (3-30 µg/kg), and NK3 (10-300 µg/kg) blockers before surgery ameliorated the inhibitory effects of gut manipulation in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the submaximal and maximal doses of NK3 antagonists showed a trend toward reversing not only the inhibition caused by gut manipulation but also laparotomy. An additive effect of combining submaximal doses of NK1-3 blockers was observed in animals pretreated with NK1  + NK2 compared to single-agent NK1 and NK2 . Additionally, doublets: NK1  + NK3 or NK2  + NK3 and a triplet: NK1  + NK2  + NK3 proved to be more effective than NK2 antagonist alone. In contrast, NK1-3 blockers have not markedly affected the intestinal propulsion in untreated rats or animals subjected to skin incision or laparotomy. NK1-3 blockers ameliorated the suppressed small-bowel gut motility 24 post-surgery. Combined pretreatment with NK1-3 antagonists provided selective, additive benefits compared to single agents.

Tachykinin Antagonists Reverse Ischemia/Reperfusion Gastrointestinal Motility Impairment in Rats.

BACKGROUND: Supraceliac aortic clamping and unclamping produces ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury of the splanchnic organs. The protective effects of tachykinin receptor antagonists, SR140333 (NK1 receptor), SR48968 (NK2 receptor), and SB222200 (NK3 receptor), against I/R-induced inhibition of intestinal motility were tested in rats. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The intestinal transit of Evans blue was measured in untreated rats and animals subjected to skin incision, I/R (1 h superior mesenteric artery occlusion followed by 24 h reperfusion) or sham operation. Surgical procedures were conducted under diethyl ether anesthesia. RESULTS: The gastrointestinal transit has not been markedly affected in rats, which were anesthetized or subjected to skin incision in comparison with untreated animals. In contrast, a sham operation and I/R have significantly reduced the intestinal motility. Pretreatment with NK1-3 blockers (SR140333 [3-30 µg/kg]; SR48968 [3-100 µg/kg]; and SB222200 [10-100 µg/kg]) reversed dose dependently the effects of I/R to the level observed after sham operation only. A combination of NK1+NK2+NK3 inhibitors exerted an additive effect compared with NK1 and NK2 antagonists used as single agents. Similarly, combined NK1+NK2 were more effective than NK2 alone. Sham operation and I/R have shifted the in vitro carbachol concentration-response curves to the right in comparison with untreated animals, a phenomenon partially reversed by NK1-NK3 pretreatment. CONCLUSIONS: Single-agent and combined treatment with NK1-3 antagonists markedly attenuated the gastrointestinal dysmotility evoked by I/R injury. The pretreatment with NK3 blocker proved to be the most active in this experimental setting.