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“Stress affects brain activity and promotes long-term changes in multiple neural systems. Exposure to stressors causes substantial effects on the perception and response to pain. In several this website animal models, chronic stress produces lasting hyperalgesia. Postmortem studies of patients with stress-related

psychiatric disorders have demonstrated a decrease in the number of astrocytes and the level of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), a marker for astrocyte, in the cerebral cortex. Since astrocytes play vital roles in maintaining neuroplasticity via synapse maintenance and secretion of neurotrophins, damage of astrocytes is thought to be involved in the neuropathology. In the present study we examined GFAP, SI pop and CD11b protein levels in the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) after the subacute and chronic

restraint stresses to clarify changes in descending pain modulatory system in the rat with stress-induced hyperalgesia. A 1155463 Chronic restraint stress (6 h/day for 3 weeks), but not subacute restraint stress (6 h/day for 3 days), caused a marked mechanical hypersensitivity. Subacute and chronic restraint stresses induced a significant decrease of GFAP protein level in the RVM (21.9 +/- 3.6%, p < 0.01 and 18.2 +/- 5.1%, p < 0.05 vs. control group, respectively). In the chronic stress group, the GFAP protein level in the RVM was positively correlated with the mechanical threshold (p < 0.05). The immunohistochemical analysis revealed that chronic restraint stress induced a significant decrease in GFAP-immunoreactivity in the nucleus raphe magnus, a part of the RVM, compared to subacute restraint stress. In contrast there was no significant difference in the S100 beta and CD11b

protein levels between the control and stress groups. These findings suggest that the long-lasting decrease of GFAP protein induced by chronic restraint stress causes dysfunction of astrocytes, which may be involved in the impairment of the RVM that plays pivotal roles in pain modulation. (c) 2013 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Arachidonic acid (ARA) is considered Bucladesine mw to be a minor contributor to the diet. Previous reports regarding the effect of ARA supplementation on the composition of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) in the blood of humans are extremely limited. In the present study, we conducted a crossover double-blind, placebo-control study. Twenty-three young Japanese women consumed one capsule containing triacylglycerol enriched with 80 mg ARA, equivalent to the amount in one egg, daily for 3 weeks. Blood samples were drawn before and after treatment periods, and the compositions of the LCPUFA in blood lipid fractions were measured.