I have investigated the effects o f both systemic and intracerebroventricular administration o f non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), o f varying therapeutic potency, on i) nociception during tail ischaemia and ii) hyperalgesia to a noxious thermal stimulus, evident during reperfusion of the receptive field on the tail, in conscious Sprague-Dawley rats. NSAIDs were found to attenuate the hyperalgesia evident during reperfiision o f the tail, whilst having no effect on the escape latency to a noxious ischaemic stimulus or on the tail flick latency in the absence of tail ischaemia. The intracerebroventricular doses required to attenuate reperfiision hyperalgesia were 2-3 orders o f magnitude less than those required by systemic administration for the same drugs. Using mechanical search stimuli, I located neurones in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord of rats with receptive fields in the tail. Neuronal responses to noxious and innocuous mechanical stimulation, as well as to noxious thermal stimulation before ischaemia and during reperfusion after ischaemia, were assessed. Of the population of neurones I examined, only a minority responded to thermal stimulation before ischaemia, and during reperfiision the neurones became more sensitive to mechanical stimuli, but not to noxious thermal stimuli. Furthermore, the neurones exhibited a decreased sensitivity to mechanical stimulation during ischaemia. Application of NSAIDs to the spinal cord did not alter the response properties of the neurones during receptive field ischaemia, but decreased receptive field size and reduced spontaneous and evoked activity during reperfusion of the tail. I have shown that the neurochemical mechanisms underlying nociception during ischaemia and reperfusion of the rat tail are different. While prostaglandins appear to pla] .0 role in mediating nociception during ischaemia, they are mediators of the hyperalgesia and neuronal hypersensitivity evident during receptive field reperfusion.

Vulvar vestibulitis syndrome is a highly prevalent and under-investigated pain syndrome. It is believed to be the most common form of dyspareunia, or painful intercourse, in pre-menopausal women. Despite the fact that pain is its defining characteristic, its conceptualization as a sexual dysfunction remains the predominant view. The first chapter of this thesis reviews support for a re-conceptualization of vulvar vestibulitis as a pain disorder, and contends that the pain component must be measured as it is in chronic pain patients, both objectively and subjectively. This paper is followed by a study in which tactile and pain thresholds in genital and non-genital body areas of 13 women with vulvar vestibulitis syndrome and 13 non-affected women were measured, while data about the intensity and unpleasantness of these sensations were collected. Results indicated that women with vulvar vestibulitis have decreased tactile and pain thresholds in both genital and non-genital body areas, as well as higher unpleasantness ratings in response to painful stimuli than controls, replicating data from the chronic pain literature. The third paper presents a pain conceptualization of vulvar vestibulitis according to classification criteria used by the International Association for the Study of Pain, and introduces the development of a vulvalgesiometer, a standardized method of genital pain measurement. Data collected with the vulvalgesiometer are presented in the fourth paper, a study in which 14 women with vulvar vestibulitis and 14 control women participated. Women with vulvar vestibulitis had significantly lower pain thresholds, higher pain unpleasantness ratings, and used adjectives similar to those reported during intercourse in response to painful stimulation. The vulvalgesiometer was used to elicit genital tactile and pain sensation in the two groups while brain activation patterns were measured via functional magnetic rdsonance imaging, the focus of the fifth paper. Results demonstrated that women with vulvar vestibulitis have augmentations of brain activity in the processing of both painful and non-painful genital stimulation as compared with non-affected women. Overall, findings from these studies suggest that the pain of vulvar vestibulitis can be reliably measured and that the pain perspective has important implications for both research and treatment of urogenital pain problems.

Diss. Linköping : Univ., 2001.

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Florida, 2004. / Typescript. Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 43 pages. Includes Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / O Acetato de lupeol (FAL), isolado do lÃtex extraÃdo do caule de Himatanthus drasticus (APOCYNCEAE), à quimicamente classificado como sendo um triterpeno pentacÃclico pertencente à classe do lupano, foi avaliado em modelos de nocicepÃÃo e inflamaÃÃo. No teste das contorÃÃes abdominais induzidas por Ãcido acÃtico (10 ml/kg, i.p.) em camundongos, a FAL (50 e 100 mg/kg, i.p.) reduziu de forma significativa o nÃmero de contorÃÃes abdominais em 56 e 61%, respectivamente, e a indometacina (10 mg/kg, i.p.) reduziu em 66%. No teste da formalina, a FAL (25 e 50 mg/kg, i.p.) reduziu de forma significativa o tempo gasto pelo animal lambendo a pata, tanto na fase inicial (21 e 46,5%, respectivamente) quanto na fase tardia (57,6 e 61,3%, respectivamente) e a morfina (7,5 mg/kg, i.p.) reduziu em 62 e 91%, respectivamente. O prÃ-tratamento com Naloxona (2 mg/kg, i.p) reverteu de modo significativo, os efeitos da FAL e da morfina tanto na fase inicial quanto na tardia do teste da formalina. No edema de pata induzido por carragenina, a FAL (10, 25 e 50 mg/kg,i.p.) reduziu de modo significativo, o volume do edema na 1Â, 2 e 3 hora apÃs a aplicaÃÃo da carragenina (1%, 50μl, s.p.). AnÃlise histopatolÃgica do tecido de pata de camundongo submetido à carragenina, demonstrou reduÃÃes significativas no edema e do infiltrado celular. Na marcaÃÃo imunohistoquÃmica, em tecido de pata de camundongo submetida ao estÃmulo da carragenina, a FAL (50mg/kg, i.p.) promoveu uma discreta reduÃÃo na expressÃo de TNF- α, porÃm causou uma significante reduÃÃo dos nÃveis de iNOS teciduais. No edema de pata induzido por dextrano, a FAL (12,5 e 25 mg/kg, i.p.) reduziu de modo significativo, o volume do edema na 2 e 3 hora apÃs a aplicaÃÃo de dextrano (12%, 50μl, s.p.). Na peritonite induzida por carragenina, a FAL (1, 10 e 20 mg/kg, i.p.) diminuiu de forma significativa, o nÃmero de leucÃcitos em 56, 80 e 92%, respectivamente. A Pentoxifilina (1 e 25mg/kg, i.p.) inibiu em 39 e 68%, respectivamente o nÃmero de leucÃcitos. No teste da inibiÃÃo da atividade da enzima mieloperoxidase (MPO), a FAL (10, 25, 50 e 100 μg/ml) reduziu a atividade da MPO em 36, 80, 79 e 74 %, respectivamente. A FAL nÃo demonstrou atividade antioxidante no teste do DPPH. Em conjunto, esses dados revelam que a FAL apresenta atividade antinociceptiva, que pode ser explicada pela habilidade deste composto em mimetizar efeitos de opiÃides endÃgenos, e antiinflamatÃria, explicada pela diminuiÃÃo da expressÃo de TNF-α e iNOS, bem como pela diminuiÃÃo da atividades da mieloperoxidase, resultando na inibiÃÃo da migraÃÃo de leucocitÃria para o foco da inflamaÃÃo. / The lupeol acetate (FAL), isolated from the latex extracted of the stem of Himatanthus drasticus (APOCYNCEAE) is chemically classified as a pentacyclic triterpene belonging to the lupane class, was evaluated in nociception and inflammation models. In the writhing test induced by acetic acid (10 ml/kg, i.p.) in mice, FAL (50 and 100 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly reduced the number of writhing in 56 and 61%, respectively, and indomethacin (10 mg/kg, i.p.) reduced by 66%. In the formalin test, FAL (25 and 50 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly reduced the time spent by the animal licking the paw, both in the initial phase (21 and 46.5%, respectively) and in the late phase (57 , 6, and 61.3%, respectively) and morphine (7.5 mg/kg, i.p.) reduced by 62 and 91%, respectively. Pretreatment with naloxone (2 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly reversed the effects of FAL and morphine in both the early and in late phase in formalin test. In the carrageenan induced paw oedema, FAL (10, 25 and 50 mg/kg, i.p.) reduced in significant way the oedema volume in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd hour after carrageenan application (1%, 50μl, s.p.). Histopathologic analysis of mice paw tissue subjected to carrageenan, showed significant reductions in oedema and cellular infiltration. In the immunohistochemical staining in mice paw tissue subjected to carrageenan stimulus, the FAL (50mg/kg, i.p.) induced a slight reduction in the expression of TNF-α, but caused a significant reduction of tissue iNOS levels. In the dextran induced paw oedema, FAL (12.5 and 25 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly reduced the oedema volume in the 2nd and 3rd hour after dextran application (12%, 50μl, s.p.). In carrageenan-induced peritonitis, FAL (1, 10 and 20 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly reduced the number of leukocytes at 56, 80 and 92%, respectively. Pentoxifylline (1 and 25mg/kg, i.p.) inhibited by 39 and 68%, respectively, the number of leukocytes. In the myeloperoxidase (MPO) enzyme inhibition test, FAL (10, 25, 50 and 100 μg/ml) reduced the activity of MPO at 36, 80, 79 and 74%, respectively. The FAL showed no antioxidant activity in DPPH test. Together, these data reveal that the FAL has antinociceptive activity, which can be explained by its ability in mimicking the endogenous opioids effects, and antiinflammatory, explained by TNF-α and iNOS expression decreased, as well as by the myeloperoxidase activity decreasing, resulting in inhibition of leukocyte migration to the focus of inflammation.

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A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Nursing Johannesburg, 2014 / Discrepancies exist between how pain is assessed in ICU patients able and unable to self report. There are pain assessment scales and guidelines that have been developed over the years for pain assessment. However, little is known regarding ICU nurses’ knowledge and current practices in the provision of pain management in the critically ill. The purpose of this study was to investigate intensive care nurses’ knowledge and practices related to pain assessment for critically ill patients. A quantitative non-experimental, descriptive cross-sectional design was used to achieve the objectives. ICU nurse participants (n=79) were drawn from the five (5) adult ICUs in a public tertiary hospital. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire by Rose et al. 2011. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1998. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [61]-68).