Sympathetic activity and spatial dispersion of repolarization (DOR) have been implicated as mechanisms that promote arrhythmia vulnerability; yet there are no direct measurements of the effects of autonomic nerve stimulation on DOR. Rabbit hearts were perfused in a Langendorff apparatus with full sympathetic and parasympathetic innervation and were optically mapped to measure action potential d...

Prolonged hypoxic/ischemic stress may cause cortical injury and clinically manifest as a neurological disability. Activation of the δ-opioid receptor (DOR) may induce cortical protection against hypoxic/ischemic insults. However, the mechanisms underlying DOR protection are not clearly understood. We have recently found that DOR activation modulates the expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the k...

BACKGROUND We have reported 1-year outcomes and antacid medication use in 100 patients undergoing laparoscropic Nissen fundoplication. As a follow-up study, we queried these same patients to determine whether their outcomes endured 4 years after fundoplication. METHODS One hundred patients undergoing laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication between 1992 and 1997 were asked, at 1 to 2 years and 4 to...

BACKGROUND Laparoscopic fundoplication is increasingly performed in pediatric surgery. Many types of fundoplication are performed, each has advantages and disadvantages. To date there has been no prospective randomized study to determine the optimal laparoscopic technique in children. The aim of the study was to compare the long-term outcomes and control of symptoms after laparoscopic Nissen fu...

Revision anti-reflux surgery is challenging. With higher rates of complications and lower symptoms control, patient selection critical. Roux-en-Y gastrectomy re-fundoplication being the most commonly performed procedures, there no clear guidance on operative base characteristics. A literature review was PubMed database with search terms ‘reflux’, ‘gastrectomy’, ‘fundoplication’. Of 164 results,...

BACKGROUND Analyses of survival after fundoplication in childhood are often restricted to 30-day mortality, or to the neurologically impaired. The objective of this study was to report actuarial survival and variables associated with mortality for all children undergoing fundoplication. METHODS This was a prospective observational study of fundoplication surgery by one surgeon; the endpoint w...

Opioids remain the standard for analgesic care; however, adverse effects of systemic treatments contraindicate long-term administration. While most clinical opioids target mu opioid receptors (MOR), those that target the delta class (DOR) also demonstrate analgesic efficacy. Furthermore, peripherally restrictive opioids represent an attractive direction for analgesia. However, opioid receptors ...

Transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxations (tLESRs) are vagally mediated in response to gastric cardiac distension. Nine volunteers, eight gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) patients, and eight fundoplication patients were studied. Manometry with an assembly that included a barostat bag was done for 1 h with and 1 h without barostat distension to 8 mmHg. Recordings were scored for tLE...

Opioid peptides, Metsand Leu5-enkephalin, are known endogenous ligands for the F-opioid receptor (DOR) associated with opioid analgesia at the spinal level. To determine the cellular sites for DOR-mediated actions, we examined the ultrastructural localization of DOR and Me+enkephalin (ME) in the spinal cord by combining immunoperoxidase and immunogold-silver labeling for antibodies against DOR ...

Olive oil extraction generates large amounts of olive mill residues (DOR) which may be used as organic fertilizer. The influence of a combination of physical fractionation and saprobe fungal incubation on the phytotoxicity of DOR was studied. The physical fractions of DOR, obtained following extraction using ethyl acetate (EDOR) and water (ADOR) were less phytotoxic than DOR with respect to the...