Generalized hypervigilance in fibromyalgia: Normal interoceptive accuracy, but reduced self-regulatory capacity

Objective: The factors underlying the aetiology of fibromyalgia (FM) are largely unknown. According to the generalized hypervigilance hypothesis (GHH), FM patients show excessive attention towards pain stimuli and other sensory events, thereby increasing pain perception and dysfunctional behaviour. We tested this notion by assessing interoceptive accuracy (IA) in FM patients and matched healthy controls. We also tested the hypothesis that FM is characterized by reduced self-regulatory capacity as indexed by heart rate variability (HRV). Methods: 47 FM patients (M-age = 45.5,39 females) and 45 healthy controls (M-age, = 44.9,37 females) completed several self-report scales (Body Vigilance Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, Pain Catastrophizing Scale). To derive HRV, heart rate was monitored under resting conditions: for the assessment of IA participants performed a heartbeat tracking task in which they were asked to silently count their heartbeats. Results: FM patients reported higher body vigilance than healthy controls, but there were no group differences in IA. FM patients had lower HRV compared with healthy controls. HRV did not predictor IA. Conclusion: In conclusion, our findings do not support the hypothesis of generalized hypervigilance in FM patients. Patients reported a heightened focus on bodily sensations, which was not reflected in IA. It may be that hypervigilance is not a general and stable characteristic but is rather context dependent and modality-specific. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Generalized hypervigilance in fibromyalgia: Normal interoceptive accuracy, but reduced self-regulatory capacity

Objective: The factors underlying the aetiology of fibromyalgia (FM) are largely unknown. According to the generalized hypervigilance hypothesis (GHH), FM patients show excessive attention towards pain stimuli and other sensory events, thereby increasing pain perception and dysfunctional behaviour. We tested this notion by assessing interoceptive accuracy (IA) in FM patients and matched healthy controls. We also tested the hypothesis that FM is characterized by reduced self-regulatory capacity as indexed by heart rate variability (HRV). Methods: 47 FM patients (M-age = 45.5,39 females) and 45 healthy controls (M-age, = 44.9,37 females) completed several self-report scales (Body Vigilance Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, Pain Catastrophizing Scale). To derive HRV, heart rate was monitored under resting conditions: for the assessment of IA participants performed a heartbeat tracking task in which they were asked to silently count their heartbeats. Results: FM patients reported higher body vigilance than healthy controls, but there were no group differences in IA. FM patients had lower HRV compared with healthy controls. HRV did not predictor IA. Conclusion: In conclusion, our findings do not support the hypothesis of generalized hypervigilance in FM patients. Patients reported a heightened focus on bodily sensations, which was not reflected in IA. It may be that hypervigilance is not a general and stable characteristic but is rather context dependent and modality-specific. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Serous adenocarcinoma of retroperitoneum: a case report

Abstract

Primary retroperitoneal serous adenocarcinoma (PRSA) is an extremely rare malignancy, with only seven cases having been previously reported. We report a case of PRSA in a 42-year-old woman treated with surgical resection and adjuvant chemotherapy. The histopathological findings of PRSA resemble those of ovarian serous carcinoma, which indicates that a combination of complete surgical resection with adjuvant chemotherapy may be the best treatment option for PRSA.

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Exploring plant diversity of tropical Africa

Video summarises research in BMC Biology, 'Exploring the floristic diversity of tropical Africa'. Read the article here: http://ift.tt/2psTszg

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Practical calculation method to estimate the absolute boron concentration in tissues using 18 F-FBPA PET

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to establish a practical method to estimate the absolute boron concentrations in the tissues based on the standardized uptake values (SUVs) after administration of 4-borono-phenylalanine (BPA) using 4-borono-2-¹⁸F-fluoro-phenylalanine (¹⁸F-FBPA) PET.

Methods

Rat xenograft models of C6 glioma (n = 7, body weight 241 ± 28.0 g) were used for the study. PET was performed 60 min after intravenous injection of ¹⁸F-FBPA (30.5 ± 0.7 MBq). After the PET scanning, BPA-fructose (167.3 ± 18.65 mg/kg) was administered by slow intravenous injection to the same subjects. The rats were killed 60 min after the BPA injection and tissue samples were collected from the major organs and tumors. The absolute boron concentrations (unit: ppm) in the samples were measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The boron concentrations in the tissues/tumors were also estimated from the ¹⁸F-FBPA PET images using the following formula: estimated absolute boron concentration (ppm) = 0.0478 × [BPA dose (mg/kg)] × SUV. The measured absolute boron concentrations (mBC) by ICP-OES and the estimated boron concentrations (eBC) from the PET images were compared.

Results

The percent difference between the mBC and eBC calculated based on the SUV_max was −5.2 ± 21.1% for the blood, −9.4 ± 22.3% for the brain, 1.6 ± 21.3% for the liver, −14.3 ± 16.8% for the spleen, −9.5 ± 27.5% for the pancreas, and 3.4 ± 43.2% for the tumor. Relatively large underestimation was observed for the lung (−48.4 ± 16.2%), small intestine (−37.8 ± 19.3%) and large intestine (−33.9 ± 11.0%), due to the partial volume effect arising from the air or feces contained in these organs. In contrast, relatively large overestimation was observed for the kidney (34.3 ± 29.3%), due to the influence of the high uptake in urine.

Conclusions

The absolute boron concentrations in tissues/tumors can be estimated from the SUVs on ¹⁸F-FBPA PET using a practical formula. Caution must be exercised in interpreting the estimated boron concentrations in the lung, small intestine and large intestine, to prevent the adverse effects of overexposure, which could occur due to underestimation by partial volume effect using PET.

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The first fluorogenic sensor for sphingosine-1-phosphate lyase activity in intact cells

Chem. Commun., 2017, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/C7CC01659J, Communication

Antonio Delgado, Pol Sanllehi, Mireia Casasampere, Jose-Luis Abad, Gemma Fabrias, Olga Lopez, Jordi Bujons, Josefina Casas
New fluorogenic sensors with suitable kinetic parameters and sensitivity have been developed for the determination of sphingosine 1 phosphate lyase activity in cell lysates. The probe RBM148 can be efficiently...
The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry

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Βeta-eudesmol reduces stem cell factor-induced mast cell migration

Publication date: July 2017
Source:International Immunopharmacology, Volume 48
Author(s): Sun-Young Nam, Hee-Yun Kim, Hyung-Min Kim, Hyun-Ja Jeong
Previously, we showed the inhibitory effects of β-eudesmol on mast cell-mediated allergic inflammatory responses. Stem cell factor (SCF) participates in allergic reactions through the differentiation and migration of mast cells. However, the effects of β-eudesmol on SCF-mediated allergic reactions are poorly understood. Herein, we showed that a treatment of rat peritoneal mast cells (RPMCs) with β-eudesmol markedly suppressed SCF-induced mast cell migration and morphological alterations in a concentration-dependent manner. β-eudesmol also reduced F-actin formation. The activation of Fyn kinase, Rac1 GTPase, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases as increased by SCF was reduced by β-eudesmol. Moreover, β-eudesmol significantly abolished SCF-induced tumor necrosis factor-α and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 production without cytotoxicity. These results demonstrate that β-eudesmol has an anti-allergic inflammatory effect through the inhibition of mast cell migration and inflammatory cytokine production.



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