Urolithin A alleviates neuropathic pain and activates mitophagy.

Neuropathic pain (NP) occurs frequently in the general population and has a negative impact on the quality of life. There is no effective therapy available yet owing to the complex pathophysiology of NP. In our previous study, we found that urolithin A (UA), a naturally occurring microflora-derived metabolite, could relieve NP in mice by inhibiting the activation of microglia and release of inflammation factors. Here in this study, we sought to investigate whether mitophagy would be activated when UA alleviated NP in mice. We showed that the autophagy flow was blocked in the spinal dorsal horn of the chronic constriction injury (CCI) mice when the most obvious pain behavior occurs. Intraperitoneal injection of UA markedly activated the mitophagy mediated by PTEN-induced kinase 1/Parkin, promoted mitobiogenesis in both neurons and microglia, and alleviated NP in the CCI mice. In summary, our data suggest that UA alleviates NP in mice and meanwhile induces mitophagy activation, which highlights a therapeutic potential of UA in the treatment of NP.

Endogenous CBS-H2S Pathway Contributes to the Development of CCI-Induced Neuropathic Pain.

Studies showed a complex relationship between hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and neuropathic pain. In this study, the relationship between endogenous CBS-H2S pathway in L4-6 spinal cord and neuropathic pain was explored. A total of 163 adult Kunming mice were used in this study. CBS expression and H2S formation in L4-6 spinal cord were detected in the development of neuropathic pain firstly. Then, effect of AOAA, an CBS inhibitor, on treatment of neuropathic pain by chronic construction injury surgery (CCI) was detected. Pain thresholds and activation of NF-κB(p65), ERK1/2 and CREB were measured as biomarks of neuropathic pain. Results showed that CCI surgery significantly upregulated protein expression of CBS and H2S formation. Correlation analysis showed pain thresholds had negative relationships with protein expression of CBS and H2S formation. Treatment with AOAA, a CBS inhibitor, inhibited CCI-induced upregulation of CBS expression and H2S formation (P < 0.05). Further, AOAA significantly decreased activation of NF-κB(p65), ERK1/2 and CREB pathway, and reversed CCI-induced allodynia (P < 0.05). This indicated that CBS-H2S pathway promoted the development of neuropathic pain. CBS-H2S pathway could be a promising target for treatment of neuropathic pain.

The Epidemiology of Work-Related Injuries in Saudi Arabia Between 2016 and 2021.

Background Workplace safety has increased in many developed nations, but work-related injuries (WRIs) are on the rise. Globally, approximately 2.9 million fatal work-related injuries and diseases occurred in 2021, up from 1.1 million in 1999. Method This work employs a cross-sectional study using the open data published by the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) on an annual basis for the years 2016 to 2021. The data from one year in each category were compared with a reference year by using the index value method and simple linear regression. Additionally, the researchers calculated the injury-to-worker ratio for each year. Aim The aim of this study is to assess the trending epidemiology of work-related injuries in Saudi Arabia from 2016 to 2021 among insured workers and compare this trend to previous studies. Result A total of 1,009 work-related deaths wererecorded over the study period, averaging 168 per year. In comparison with non-Saudi workers, the Saudi workers' shares of injuries rose from 5.3% in 2016 to 10% in 2021. Injuries in the construction sector comprised 42%-48% of all injuries, followed by the commerce sector. In 2021, the highest percentage of injuries involved service occupations (47.5%), followed by the engineering sector. Between 2016 and 2018, the most common injury cause was falls (28.5% in 2018), and from 2020 to 2021, exposure to inanimate mechanical forces caused the most injuries (46%). Conclusion The study revealed that the trend of work-related injuries had decreased during the study period, consistent with the results of similar previous studies.

Causes of construction injuries: a review.

This article aims to identify the causes of construction injuries (CIs), summarize them into categories, provide input in a concise form for reference and recommend possible solutions. A total of 967 peer-reviewed papers were retrieved, and 42 papers were finally identified and analyzed in detail. Causes of CIs were categorized into four major factors- management commitment factors, behavioral factors, psychological factors and demographic factors - and each reviewed separately. The main finding of the study is that management commitment and behavioral factors are the main sources of CIs. The finding regarding experience and age is the contribution of this article. Thus, further joint research needs to be conducted using mixed methods to provide better and in-depth understanding of the association between the empirical findings and accident causation theories to design effective safety policies. Further, the public body responsible for safety implementation should design mass-media awareness advertisements to increase general public awareness.