AIMTo observe the effect of melatonin (MT) on morphine withdrawal syndromes and determine the content of NO in plasma and brain tissue in morphine dependent mice.

METHODSA physical dependent model in mice was established by subcutaneous injection of morphine. MT (15 mg.kg-1, qd x 3) was given by intragastric infusion (ig) for three days. Withdrawal syndromes were induced by intraperitoneal injection of naloxon (5 mg.kg-1). The intensity of withdrawal syndromes was evaluated according to the jumping latency, the jumping times and the body weight loss. The content of NO was detected with Griess method.

RESULTSThe jumping latency of morphine withdrawal reaction was prolonged and the jumping times were reduced obviously by ig MT. The increased NO content in plasma and brain tissue in morphine dependent mice was reduced by ig MT.

CONCLUSIONThe physical withdrawal syndromes and the content of NO in plasma and brain tissue in morphine dependent mice are inhibited by MT.

Animals ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Disease Models, Animal ; Male ; Melatonin ; therapeutic use ; Mice ; Morphine Dependence ; blood ; Nitric Oxide ; blood ; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome ; blood ; prevention & control

Nicotine, the primary psychoactive component of tobacco products, produces diverse neurophysiological, motivational, and behavioral effects through several brain regions and neurochemical pathways. Various neurotransmitter systems have been explored to understand the mechanisms behind nicotine tolerance, dependence, and withdrawal. Recent evidence suggests that glutamate neurotransmission has an important role in this phenomenon. The aim of the present review is to discuss preclinical findings concerning the role of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor neurotransmission in mediating the behavioral effects of nicotine, tolerance, sensitization, dependence, and withdrawal. Based on preclinical findings, it is hypothesized that NMDA receptors mediate the common adaptive processes that are involved in the development, maintenance, and expression of nicotine addiction. Modulation of glutamatergic neurotransmission with NMDA receptor antagonists may prove to be useful in alleviating the symptoms of nicotine abstinence and facilitate tobacco-smoking cessation.
Animals ; Dizocilpine Maleate/pharmacology ; Drug Tolerance ; Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists/*pharmacology ; Humans ; Nicotine/*administration & dosage ; Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate/*antagonists & inhibitors/physiology ; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome/physiopathology/prevention & control ; Tobacco Use Disorder/physiopathology/*prevention & control

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of sequential sedative and analgesic drugs in preventing delirium and withdrawal symptoms in children after ventilator weaning. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 61 children who were admitted and received mechanical ventilation support for ≥5 days in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of Dongguan Children's Hospital Affiliated to Guangdong Medical University from December 2019 to September 2021. The children were divided into a control group (30 children with no maintenance of analgesic and sedative drugs after ventilator weaning) and an observation group (31 children with sequential sedative and analgesic drugs maintained for 48 hours after ventilator weaning). The two groups were compared in terms of the Sophia Observation Withdrawal Symptoms Scale (SOS) score, the Pediatric Delirium Scale (PD) score, the Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale (RASS) score, and the incidence rates of delirium or withdrawal symptoms at 24 and 72 hours after ventilator weaning. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the incidence rate of delirium at 24 hours and 72 hours after ventilator weaning between the two groups (P>0.05). Compared with the control group, the observation group had significantly lower incidence rate of withdrawal symptoms and scores of SOS, PD, and RASS scales at 24 hours and 72 hours after ventilator weaning (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS Sequential sedation and analgesia after ventilator weaning can reduce the incidence of withdrawal symptoms within 72 hours after ventilator weaning, but it cannot reduce the incidence rate of delirium.
Analgesia ; Analgesics/therapeutic use* ; Child ; Delirium/prevention & control* ; Humans ; Hypnotics and Sedatives/therapeutic use* ; Intensive Care Units, Pediatric ; Pain ; Prospective Studies ; Respiration, Artificial/adverse effects* ; Retrospective Studies ; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome/prevention & control* ; Ventilator Weaning

In order to identify ceftriaxone and its analogs whether has the function of anti-tolerance of morphine and study the dose-effect relation of ceftriaxone in mice, hot plate method to measure pain threshold of mouse and naloxone withdrawal models were carried out and compared with normal saline group. Ceftriaxone and cefotaxime had the effect of anti-tolerance and anti-dependence of morphine notably. And ceftriaxone has the effect of anti-tolerance of morphine in a dose dependent manner.
Animals ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; Cefotaxime ; pharmacology ; Ceftriaxone ; pharmacology ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drug Tolerance ; Female ; Mice ; Morphine ; pharmacology ; Morphine Dependence ; prevention & control ; Pain Threshold ; drug effects ; Random Allocation ; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome ; physiopathology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the efficacy and safety of slow anti-epileptic drug (AED) taper protocol and a rescue benzodiazepine protocol in video-electroencephalography (video-EEG) monitoring for presurgical evaluation of epilepsy.

METHODSSixty-two of 109 patients with refractory focal epilepsy underwent pre-surgical video-EEG monitoring with a slow AEDs taper protocol and a rescue benzodiazepine protocol. Seizures were recorded by video-EEG in 56 patients. The time to the first seizure, duration of monitoring, incidence of 4-h and 24-h seizure clustering, secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures (sGTCS), status epilepticus, falls and cardiac asystole were evaluated.

RESULTSA total of 191 seizures were recorded in the 56 cases, and the diagnostic efficiency of video-EEG was 90.3%. The mean time to the first seizure was 2.4 days and the time to conclude video-EEG monitoring averaged 6.8 days. Eight (12.9%) patients had 4-h clusters and 24 (38.7%) had 24-h clusters. Seizure clusters were more frequent in extra temporal epilepsy than in temporal lobe epilepsy. While 19 sGTCS were recorded in 15 patients (26.8%), status epilepticus did not occur and no seizure was complicated by cardiac asystole. Epileptic falls with no significant injuries occurred in 4 patients.

CONCLUSIONSeizure clustering is common during presurgical video-EEG monitoring, but serious adverse events are rare with a slow AED tapering and a rescue benzodiazepine protocols. These two protocols are effective and save in presurgical video-EEG monitoring for refractory focal epilepsy.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Anticonvulsants ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Electroencephalography ; methods ; Epilepsy ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Monitoring, Physiologic ; methods ; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome ; diagnosis ; prevention & control ; Video Recording ; Young Adult

UNLABELLEDTo investigate the regulatory effects of epimedium flavonoids (EF) on adrenocortical regeneration in rats with inhibited hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.

METHODSCell distribution in cell cycle and cell apoptotic rate were measured with PI stain and flow-cytometry; apoptosis cells were showed by in situ terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxy-uridine triphosphate-fluorescene nick end labeling assay (TUNEL), and the genome-wide gene mRNA expression was detected by oligonucleotide microarrays.

RESULTSCompared to the normal control, adrenal cells isolated from the HPA axis inhibited model group were arrested in Go/GI phase, and showed a higher apoptotic rate (P < 0.05). After treated with EF, cells in G0/G1 phase decreased and those in G2/M phase increased (P < 0.01), and the elevated apoptotic rate reduced significantly (P < 0.05). TUNEL assay showed the number of apoptotic cells per section was 4.67 1.53 in the normal control group, 70.67 +/- 9.29 in the model group, and 18.67 +/- 7.64 in the EF-treated group respectively (n=3). Gene expressions in adrenal were mostly restrained in the model group, including 7 cytocycle promoting genes, including V-ras, V-jun, etc., while after treatment with EF, 6 cytocycle promoting genes, 1 anti-apoptotic gene, and genes that closely related with adrenocortical regeneration as IGF-II and FGF7 and their receptors, as well as 7 steroid biosynthesis participated genes were all up-regulated. Conclusion EF can accelerate adrenocortical cell proliferation, inhibit its apoptosis, and promote steroid biosynthesis so as to enhance adrenocortical regeneration in HPA axis inhibited rats, which may contribute to the beneficial effects of EF in protecting adrenocortical function during glucocorticoid withdrawal.

Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Epimedium ; chemistry ; Flavonoids ; pharmacology ; Gene Expression ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Glucocorticoids ; adverse effects ; Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System ; drug effects ; Male ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Pituitary-Adrenal System ; drug effects ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome ; prevention & control