Introduction: Cancer pain is one of the most frequently encountered pain syndromes. With the application of the World Health Organization analgesic ladder, adequate analgesia is achieved in 75% to 90% of patients. The remaining patients suffer from intractable pain requiring intra- thecal analgesia. The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyse the pain intensity before and after intrathecal analgesia and review the complications associated with the implantation and the care of the intrathecal device. Materials and Methods: We reviewed medical records of all cancer patients whose pain were managed by intrathecal catheter implants in our centre from February 2005 to August 2008. The pain intensity, medication and complications related to intrathecal catheter insertion or drug delivery were reviewed at the time before starting the intrathecal analgesia (T0) and time of discharge from the hospital/time prior to death during their stay in the hospital (Tdsc). Results: Twenty-nine patients were included. Out of these 29 patients, 86.2% had metastatic cancer. The most common indication was poor pain control. Pain intensity was reduced significantly at the time of discharge from hospital (P <0.001). The number of patients with side effects from opioids decreased after intrathecal treatment. We found 4 patients with short-term catheter complications e.g. kinked or displaced catheter and catheter-related infection. Conclusion: Intractable cancer pain could be managed effectively by intrathecal analgesia with a significant decrease in pain intensity and reduced opioid-related side effects. The side effects due to intrathecal opioids and complications from intrathecal catheter were minimal. Key words: Intractable cancer pain, Intrathecal catheter
Dunaliella salina is a marine alga with high potential for beta-carotene (pro-vitamin A), up to more than 10% of cellular dry weight under appropriate stress conditions of limiting one of the following nutrients: nitrogen, phosphate, high light or high salt. Obtaining high biomass in low cost medium is the essential step of the two-phase culture system for beta-carotene production. For future development of beta-carotene production from Dunaliella in Vietnam, it is our first step to study a low cost medium using natural seawater enriched with industrial fertilizer N-P-K (30-15-10) commercially available in Vietnam. The primary results of biomass, cell density, chlorophyll a as well as growth rate are very promising to use this medium for mass culture of Dunaliella salina. The medium is recommended for growing other marine algae as well.
Corticotropin-releasing hormone and arginine vasopressin are known to interact in stimulating secretion of adrenocorticotropinrelated peptides from corticotropes. However, the mechanism mediating this interaction is uncertain. Recently, evidence has been provided using a reverse haemolytic plaque assay that in rat pituitary cells, arginine vasopressin potentiates the effects of corticotropin-releasing hormone by increasing the percentage of target cells that secrete adrenocorticotropin. To determine whether a similar mechanism also operates in the sheep corticotrope, which is reportedly more sensitive to arginine vasopressin than that of the rat, a reverse haemolytic plaque assay for /%endorphin secretion was used to study the response of ovine corticotropes to stimulation by increasing doses of corticotropin-releasing hormone or arginine vasopressin (0.1 nM to 10.0 nM) alone or in combination.In the reverse haemolytic plaque assay, P-endorphin antiserum at 1 5 0 and complement at 1:lO were found to be optimal dilutions for plaque formation. A concentration-dependent response curve to corticotropin-releasing hormone was obtained with a significant increase in plaque area from basal to reach maximal levels at 1.0 nM. Arginine vasopressin also stimulated an increase in plaque area, however, plaques formed were significantly smaller than those caused by corticotropin-releasing hormone. Since in the reverse haemolytic plaque assay, plaque area is related to the amount of hormone secreted by the cell, results demonstrate that although corticotropin-releasing hormone and arginine vasopressin both stimulate b-endorphin secretion from ovine corticotropes, corticotropin-releasing hormone is a more potent secretagogue than arginine vasopressin in that it causes the formation of significantly larger plaques.The addition of arginine vasopressin to low concentrations of corticotropin-releasing hormone caused plaque areas to reach maximal levels at 0.1 nM whereas these levels were only attained at 1.0 nM when corticotropin-releasing hormone was used alone. Therefore, arginine vasopressin interacts with corticotropin-releasing hormone to increase corticotrope responses by increasing their secretory response to corticotropin-releasing hormone. These data are consistent with previous work suggesting that arginine vasopressin increases the expression of corticotropin-releasing hormone receptors on the corticotrope cell surface. However, no significant increase in the percentage of plaque-forming cells was seen with either corticotropin-releasing hormone or arginine vasopressin alone or in combination implying that there was no recruitment of previously non-secreting cells.It is now well established that secretion of proopiomelanocortin fragments, such as adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and j-endorphin (j-EP), from corticotropes of the anterior pituitary in mammals is regulated by a number of releasing factors secreted from the hypothalamus (1). In the rat, the 41 amino-acid peptide corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is cons...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.