Opioid receptors are the sites of action for morphine and the other opioid drugs. Abundant evidence now demonstrates that different opioid receptor types can physically associate to form heteromers. Understandings of the nature, behavior, and role of these opioid receptor heteromers are developing. Owing to their constituent monomers' involvement in analgesia, mu/delta opioid receptor (M/DOR) h...

BACKGROUND Diabetes is characterized by reduced thyroid function and altered myogenesis after muscle injury. Here we identify a novel component of thyroid hormone action that is repressed in diabetic rat muscle. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We have identified a gene, named DOR, abundantly expressed in insulin-sensitive tissues such as skeletal muscle and heart, whose expression is highly re...

The regulation of opioid receptor system function in peripheral sensory neurons is not well understood. Opioid agonist efficacy to inhibit nociceptor function and to promote antinociception is generally weak under basal conditions and frequently no response occurs. However, in response to a cyclooxygenasedependent metabolite of arachidonic acid (AA) after exposure to inflammatory mediators, suc...

The regulation of opioid receptor system function in peripheral sensory neurons is not well understood. Opioid agonist efficacy to inhibit nociceptor function and to promote antinociception is generally weak under basal conditions and frequently no response occurs. However, in response to a cyclooxygenase-dependent metabolite of arachidonic acid (AA) after exposure to inflammatory mediators, su...

The present study investigated the ability of the non-pathogenic fungus Fusarium lateritium to either degrade or modify aromatic substances in olive-mill dry residue (DOR) and to reduce its phytotoxicity. The 80% reduction of ethylacetate extractable phenols in DOR colonized by the fungus for 20 weeks appeared to be due to polymerization reactions of phenol molecules as suggested by mass-balanc...

Justificativa e Objetivos O controle da dor pós-operatória tem sido muito investigado nas últimas décadas, quando se verificou que a analgesia pós-operatória era inadequada. O termo “preemptiva” implica em uma forma de analgesia que, iniciada antes do estímulo doloroso ser gerado, previne ou diminui a dor subseqüente. Este estudo tem como objetivo uma atualização sobre analgesia preemptiva poss...

Introduction: Asthma and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) have been closely linked, but the association of one with the other is not completely understood. Though GERD contributes to and exacerbates asthma symptoms, best management has not been established. Many asthmatics have subjective and objective findings of GERD, but the use of antireflux medication may not reduce reflux-related as...

The Mediterranean basin has been identified as a biodiversity hotspot, about whose soil microbial diversity little is known. Intensive land use and aggressive management practices are degrading the soil, with a consequent loss of fertility. The use of organic amendments such as dry olive residue (DOR), a waste produced by a two-phase olive-oil extraction system, has been proposed as an effectiv...

Membrane trafficking of the δ-opioid receptor (DOR) from intracellular compartments to plasma membrane in central neurons, induced by various pathological conditions such as long-term opioid exposure, represents unique receptor plasticity involved in the mechanisms of long-term opioid effects in opioid addiction and opioid treatment of chronic pain. However, the signaling pathways coupled to th...