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Aims: To analyse recent acute painful conditions for which general practitioners (GPs) would prescribe aspirin., Methods: Prospective observational study investigating GPs' prescription of aspirin to adult patients with acute pain of < or =5 days of duration. Pain intensity was graded on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS) prior to and at the 48th hour of aspirin therapy., Results: 4765 patients (53.9% males), aged 42.6 +/- 14.7 years, with recent acute pain (2.2 +/- 1.2 days) were enrolled. Aspirin was prescribed at a mean daily dose of 3g, for musculoskeletal pain (40.8%), headaches and/or migraine (30.7%), ENT pain (23.2%) or dental pain (9.5%), some patients having complained of different types of pain. Pain relief was assessable in 3793 patients (79.6%). In this population, pain intensity was reduced by 65% within 48 hours, from 63.5 +/- 16.7 mm to 22.2 +/- 17.1 mm on the VAS. The rate of responders (decrease > or =75 % on VAS) was 39.6%; however it varied markedly across the different painful disorders., Conclusion: Our survey suggests that GPs may prescribe aspirin for acute pain states similar to those for which they prescribe over-the-counter non aspirin non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Objective: Investigation of pain and nociception refers to different models. Depending upon the intensity of stimulation, unmyelinated pulpal fibers or periodontal A-fibers can be stimulated producing a short or a long latency jaw opening reflex of the digastric muscle. This paper investigates the different components of the jaw opening reflex in addition to the correlation between afferent fibers involved in the cortical evoked response., Design and Setting: Fifteen awake male rats were implanted with tooth pulp stimulation electrodes, digastric and cortical recording electrodes. Ten rats were submitted to recordings after a single tooth pulp stimulation, while five rats were using conditioning and test stimulation. Tooth pulp evoked potentials and digastric EMG were simultaneously recorded. A multiresolution denoising method was used for signal processing., Results: Following tooth pulp stimulation, a cortical response was produced including the following peaks: P6.5 +/- 1.1, N11 +/- 1.2, P17 +/- 1.2, P27 +/- 2.9, N53 +/- 7.5, P69 +/- 5.8, P88 +/- 13, N160 +/- 9.7, P204 +/- 14.2. The distribution and amplitude of these peaks are correlated to the stimulation intensity (r=0.96, p<0.01). An interaction between the different components of the jaw opening reflex was identified on EMG, following a conditioning shock, where a cortical evoked response showed a P30 +/- 2.7 peak which was observed concurrently with the jaw opening long latency reflex., Conclusion: Our results identify the interaction between the different components of the jaw opening reflex and the correlation to the cortical evoked response.

Organic synthesis often requires multiple steps where a functional group (FG) is concealed from reaction by a protecting group (PG). Common PGs include N-carbobenzyloxy (Cbz or Z) of amines and tert-butyloxycarbonyl (OtBu) of acids. An essential step is the removal of the PG, but this often requires excess reagents, extensive time and can have low % yield. An overarching goal of biocatalysis is to use "green" or "enzymatic" methods to catalyse chemical transformations. One under-utilised approach is the use of "deprotectase" biocatalysts to selectively remove PGs from various organic substrates. The advantage of this methodology is the exquisite selectivity of the biocatalyst to only act on its target, leaving other FGs and PGs untouched. A number of deprotectase biocatalysts have been reported but they are not commonly used in mainstream synthetic routes. This study describes the construction of a cascade to deprotect doubly-protected amino acids. The well known Bacillus BS2 esterase was used to remove the OtBu PG from various amino acid substrates. The more obscure Sphingomonas Cbz-ase (amidohydrolase) was screened with a range of N-Cbz-modified amino acid substrates. We then combined both the BS2 and Cbz-ase together for a 1 pot, 2 step deprotection of the model substrate CBz- L -Phe OtBu to produce the free L -Phe. We also provide some insight into the residues involved in substrate recognition and catalysis using docked ligands in the crystal structure of BS2. Similarly, a structural model of the Cbz-ase identifies a potential di-metal binding site and reveals conserved active site residues. This new biocatalytic cascade should be further explored for its application in chemical synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The oral status of people living in precarious conditions is problematic. Although the public universal health insurance should allow better access to care, access to dental care remains a critical issue. The analysis of the patient population of a hospital dental consultation (Groupe Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris) seemed relevant to evaluate the needs of care and the means to provide it. The principal objectives are: to estimate dental health and needs of this population, to describe their sociodemographic characteristics and to compare them with patients living in common social conditions., Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted from February to June 2003. A medical questionnaire and a dental file record were used. All outpatients coming to the dental consultation, in need of conservative or prosthetic treatment, were included. We analysed the risk factors associated with poor dental health., Results: Three hundred and thirty three questionnaires were analysed: two third were men, 45% were foreigners. More than half of them benefited from a special social health insurance for disadvantaged people or didn't have any health insurance. The comparative analysis of this precarious group vs regular insured people showed significant differences for sociodemographic and oral characteristics. Namely, in the precarious group, a poor dental status was generally observed: more cavities (3.6 versus 2), more absent teeth not replaced (6.8 versus 3.5) and less treated teeth (1.9 versus 3.9)--p < 0.0001. Multivariate analysis showed that main risk factors of poor dental status were to be aged and to be a foreigner., Conclusion: This study stresses the importance of the dental care needs in a context of poor insurance refunding for the costs of dental treatments and the lack of structures able to provide dental care for patients living in difficult social condition. These findings question the organization of the dental care system in France.

An anterograde biocytin and a retrograde WGA-colloidal gold study in the rat can provide information about reciprocal communication pathways between the red nucleus and the trigeminal sensory complex. No terminals were found within the trigeminal motor nucleus, in contrast with the facial motor nucleus. A dense terminal field was observed in the parvicellular reticular formation ventrally to the trigeminal motor nucleus. The parvicellular area may be important for the control of jaw movements by rubrotrigeminal inputs. On the other hand, the contralateral rostral parvicellular part of the red nucleus receives terminals from the same zone in the rostral part of the trigeminal sensory complex, where retrogradely labelled neurones were found after tracer injections into the red nucleus. Such relationships could be part of a control loop for somatosensory information from the orofacial area.

The electrophysiological characteristics of the blink reflex evoked by electrical stimulation of supraorbital nerve (V1) have been studied in the awake and anaesthetized rat. This reflex has two components (R1 and R2). The first one, R1, is of short latency, strictly ipsilateral to the stimulus and exhibits all features of an oligosynaptic reflex response. The second component, R2, of longer latency, is observed bilaterally in awaked but ipsilaterally in lightly anaesthetized and totally depressed in deeply anaesthetized animals. This component possesses all characteristics of a largely multi-synaptic reflex response.

Transcutaneous cranial electrical stimulation with Limoge's currents has been shown to facilitate anesthesia/analgesia in surgical patients. However, the neurobiologic substrate of this effect remains unknown. The present study was designed to analyze the influence of transcranial electrical stimulation (TCES) on halothane requirements in rats and the contribution of the central endogenous opioid, alpha 2-adrenergic and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT1 and 5-HT2) serotonergic systems to this effect. The influence of TCES on the MAC of halothane (MACH) and its reversibility by a subcutaneous 2 mg/kg naloxone injection were first determined in 20 rats using a randomized blinded protocol. MACH was decreased markedly in stimulated animals (TCES, n = 10) in comparison with sham-operated nonstimulated rats (controls, n = 10): MACH = 0.60 +/- 0.15, mean +/- SD, versus 1.07 +/- 0.05 vol%, P less than 0.001. In TCES animals, naloxone administration restored MACH values to the levels of controls but failed to affect MACH in controls. The influence of the duration of TCES applied prior to MACH determination was further investigated in 30 animals. The magnitude of MACH reduction was significantly increased with the cumulative duration of stimulation. For each duration of stimulation tested, administration of a 5-micrograms intracerebroventricular (icv) dose of the enkephalinase inhibitor thiorphan significantly enhanced TCES effects (P less than 0.05). Finally, the icv administration of a 15-micrograms naloxone dose appeared to reverse completely the MACH reduction elicited by TCES (n = 8, P less than 0.01).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Background: Considering the inter-relationship between Diabetes Mellitus (DM) and oral tissues, assessment of oral health status in relation to glycemic control might be informative about the disease condition, which might be pivotal to appropriate management and ultimately improve life satisfaction. This study therefore aimed to assess the pattern of self-reported diabetes related oral conditions and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) among patients with DM at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria. Materials and methods: A cross- sectional study using an interviewer administered questionnaire was conducted among in- and out- patients being managed for DM by the Endocrinology unit of the hospital. Data collected included bio-data, medical history, self-reported oral conditions and dental service utilisation. The impact of oral health related quality of life was measured using OHIP-14. Oral examination was done to assess oral mucosal lesions and their oral hygiene status. Data was analysed using SPSS 21. Results: Eighty-four patients with diabetes consisting 23 (27%) in-patients and 61 (63%) out-patients were enrolled. Males were 26(31%) and females 58(69%); their ages ranged from 22 to 88 years with a mean of 60.9 ± 12.8 years. Most (67%) of the participants had one or more self-reported oral complaints, dryness (20.4%) being the most common and bad breath (4.6%) as the least reported. Poor glycemic level was found to be higher among the in-patients (82%) with random blood glucose > 200 mg/dL during admission, compared to the out-patient participants (51%) who had fasting plasma glucose > 110 mg/dL. Their oral hygiene status was assessed using simplified oral hygiene index and documented as fair (65%), poor (25%) and good (10%). About two-thirds (61%) had ever visited a dentist, majorly due to toothache. Only the pain (21.9%) and physical disability (26.3%) components of OHIP-14 were mainly found to affect the participants' OHRQOL. Conclusions: This study found high rate of self- reported DM related oral conditions notably oral dryness, and periodontal diseases particularly as teeth mobility and spontaneous exfoliation. Nonetheless, most of the study participants had fair OHRQoL while its physical pain, functional limitation and psychological disability components were most reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Non-diabetics and diabetics might have different oral health problems and impacts on their oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). Comparison of oral health status and coping strategies between these patients, and evaluation of factors associated with OHRQoL might facilitate better treatment planning for improved patient-centred outcome., Methods: One hundred and eleven non-diabetics and 107 diabetics attending a public hospital were clinically examined and evaluated for coping strategies (abbreviated coping orientation to problems experienced) and OHRQoL [short-form oral health impact profile (OHIP-14S)]. Factors associated with OHRQoL were analysed through correlation/partial correlation. Minimally important differences (MID) of OHIP-14S were calculated to confirm associations between attachment loss, caries, and tooth loss with OHRQoL., Results: Non-diabetics had worse periodontal status. Diabetics had more missing teeth. Non-diabetics and diabetics employed maladaptive coping to manage oral health problems. Overall, non-diabetics reported worse OHRQoL. Determination of MID showed that non-diabetics with high-severe attachment loss and <20 teeth experienced poorer OHRQoL. Diabetics with caries, high-severe attachment loss, and <25 teeth experienced poorer OHRQoL., Conclusion: Different factors were associated with OHRQoL of non-diabetics and diabetics. Delivery of treatment aimed at maintaining teeth in a periodontally healthy and caries free state, and provision of more chewing units might help improve OHRQoL of diabetics. © 2024 Australian Dental Association., (© 2024 The Authors. Australian Dental Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Dental Association.)

Animals interact with their environment through mechanically active, mobile sensors. The efficient use of these sensory organs implies the ability to track their position; otherwise, perceptual stability or prehension would be profoundly impeded. The nervous system may keep track of the position of a sensorimotor organ via two complementary feedback mechanisms--peripheral reafference (external, sensory feedback) and efference copy (internal feedback). Yet, the potential contributions of these mechanisms remain largely unexplored. By training male rats to place one of their vibrissae within a predetermined angular range without contact, a task that depends on knowledge of vibrissa position relative to their face, we found that peripheral reafference is not required. The presence of motor cortex is not required either, except in the absence of peripheral reafference to maintain motor stability. Finally, the red nucleus, which receives descending inputs from motor cortex and cerebellum and projects to facial motoneurons, is critically involved in the execution of the vibrissa positioning task. All told, our results point toward the existence of an internal model that requires either peripheral reafference or motor cortex to optimally drive voluntary motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following points emerge from a systematic investigation of the 4 divisions of the cat trigeminal sensory complex. (1) The subnucleus oralis receives a large representation from the oral cavity, a region also represented in the 3 other divisions of the trigeminal sensory complex. (2) Nucleus principalis cells project heavily to the contralateral and to the ipsilateral ventroposterior thalamus. Ipsilateral projections are only from the oral cavity representation. (3) Units responding to noxious mechanical stimulation have been found at two different loci: the subnucleus caudalis for the entire trigeminal area, and subnucleus oralis for the oral cavity alone. (4) The dental pulp projects to the 4 divisions of the trigeminal sensory complex, but the heaviest projection was found in the rostral part (nucleus principalis and subnucleus oralis). (5) Three distinct types of post-synaptic responses were found to be evoked by dental pulp stimulation: (a) short latency, consistent and synaptically secure, (b) strongly variable latency, inconstant and easily fatigued and (c) a class showing progressive enhancement by progressive increase in stimulus intensity and repetition.

From a new systematic investigation of the 4 divisions of the trigeminal sensory complex, the following points are emphasized: 1. The subnucleus oralis receives a large representation from the oral cavity, a region also represented in the three other divisions of the trigeminal sensory complex. 2. Units responding to noxious mechanical stimulation have been found in two different loci: the subnucleus caudalis for the whole trigeminal area, and the subnucleus oralis for the oral cavity. 3. The dental pulp projects to the four divisions of the trigeminal sensory complex, but the heaviest projection is found in its rostral part (the main nucleus and subnucleus oralis). 4. Three distinct types of responses were found following dental pulp stimulation: primary, non primary and responses strongly enhanced by an increase in stimulus parameters.

The J.O.R. elecitied by pulpal, palatal or periodontal stimulations was recorded on the cat digastric nerve. As shown by the frontal sections of the brain stem the caudal subnucleus is not directly involved in this reflex. However after exclusion of the more rostral part of the interpolar subnucleus the pulpal induced J.O.R. is abolished although the palatal or periodontal induced J.O.R. is only partially suppressed.

(1) A similar proportion of cells in the VPM (24.7%), MGmc (24%), CM (26.8%) and CL (28.6%) is activated by electrical stimulation of the cat's dental pulp. However the thresholds are very different, cells belonging to the first group of the VPM being often activated by stimulation below 0.1 V. (2) Pain seems to be the unique sensation evoked by pulpal stimulation. A first group of cells somatotopically localized in the VPM displays a primary type of response. These cells can also be activated from an oral or perioral field. This fact is reminiscent of referred pain phenomenon often encountered in the clinic. (3) A second group of cells scattered in the VPM and activated by pulpal stimulation displays a non-primary type of response. (4) Strong pinching of the skin activates some MGmc cells tonically. Response characteristics of the MGmc cells after pulpal stimulation are heterogeneojs. (5) CM cells activated by pulpal stimulation display long latency responses whose properties are similar to those obtained after somatic stimulation. However, the latency of responses are shorter after limb stimulation than after pulpal stimulation.

Using glass micropipettes unitary activities were recorded at the level of the trigeminal sensory complex. Iontophoresis of pontamine blue allowed us to localise the recording loci. Two types of spikes were observed, they were distinguished on the basis of their shape: one corresponds to an axon spike, the other to a cell body spike.