Stress is known to exert an influence on neuroendocrine, autonomic, hormonal functioning. Various stress models have been reported to induce analgesia. This is a phenomenon, referred to as stress-induced analgesia (SIA). Nociceptin/Orphanin FQ(N/OFQ) is a heptadecapeptide that has been found to play a direct role on pain perception. This study aimed to investigate the effects of novel nociceptin analogues on nociception after acute and chronic immobilization stress (CIS) and the involvement of the opioid and nociceptinergic systems in analgesic effects. Analgesic effects were examined by paw-pressure (PP) and hot-plate (HP) tests. Our data showed that acute immobilization stress induced hypoalgesia. The analgesic effect was more pronounced in pain caused by a mechanical stimulus than by a thermal one. CIS attenuated the hyperalgesic effect of naloxone and JTC-801 for mechanical and thermal stimulation. The effects of the opioid system are more pronounced in acute immobilization stress, while the nociceptin mechanisms predominate after chronic stress.

Stress is known to exert an influence on neuroendocrine, autonomic, hormonal, and immune functioning. Various stress models have been reported to induce analgesia. This is a phenomenon referred to as stress-induced analgesia (SIA). Nociceptin and analogues are neuropeptides, neuromodulators, which are able to inhibit the expression of some forms of SIA. Nociceptin/orphanin FQ(N/OFQ) is a heptadecapeptide, which has been found to play a direct role on pain perception. Nitric oxide (NO) plays an important role in the initiation and maintenance of pain. It is also known that acute and chronic stress induce biochemical changes affecting both pain threshold and behaviour. Thus, endogenous opioid peptides and NO mediate a wide variety of physiological processes, including pain transmission and SIA. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of novel analogues of N/OFQ(1-13)NH 2 , where lysine (Lys) at position 9 and/or 13 was substituted by L-ornithine (Orn) on nociception after chronic immobilization stress (IS) and the involvement of the nitric oxideergic systems in these effects. Analgesic activity was examined by nociceptive test – paw-pressure (PP). All novel analogues of N/OFQ were injected at a dose of 10 μg/kg, N G -nitro-L-arginine methylester (L-NAME, 10 mg/kg) and L-arginine (L-arg, 1 mg/kg). All drugs were dissolved in saline and were injected intraperitoneally (i.p.). The nociceptive tests were performed 10 min after peptide injection. Antinociceptive effects were statistically accessed by ANOVA. In conclusion, we suggest that the nitricoxidergic system after chronic immobilization stress is involved in the analgesic effects of the novel analogues of nociceptin.

This study aims to assess vitamin D levels in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis and healthy women in menopause.Two groups of women over 50 years of age took part in the study -41 women with osteoporosis and 22 without osteoporosis.The levels of vitamin D, parathormone, alkaline phosphatase, calcium and phosphorus were examined.16 women with osteoporosis (39%) were with normal levels of vitamin D, 14 (34,1%) were with insufficiency, and 11 (26,9%) with deficiency of vitamin D. Within the control group, 8 women (36,4%) were with normal levels of vitamin D, 12 (54,5%) were with vitamin D insufficiency and 2 (9,1%) with deficiency.The patients with vitamin D deficiency were significantly older both in the osteoporosis group and the control group (r = -0.32,p<0.05).A negative correlation with the increase of parathormone levels among the patients with osteoporosis and vit D deficiency was found (r = -0.46,p<0.01).There is a significant statistical difference in the average values of BMI in both groups.The average value of BMI in the patients with osteoporosis is 24.2 while in the patients of the control group, it's 29.5 (p<0.0001).The same trend is seen in the patients with vitamin D deficiency both in the women with and the women without osteoporosis (24.4 to 28.2, respectively, p<0.05).The results show an overall bad status of vitamin D. 61% of the patients with osteoporosis and 63,6 % of the healthy controls have levels of vitamin D, showing either insufficiency or deficiency.

Tatyana Simeonova1, Krasimira Stefanova2, Ivelina Himcheva1, Pavlina Yordanova-Laleva3, Boryana Ruseva1, Aneliya Dimitrova1 1) Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Medical University Pleven, 2) Diagnostic Consulting Center II-Pleven, 3) Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University-Pleven, Bulgaria. Journal of IMAB Annual Proceeding (Scientific Papers). 2020 Jan-Mar;26(1) Journal of IMAB ISSN: 1312-773X https://www.journal-imab-bg.org

This study aims to assess vitamin D levels in women with postmenopausal osteoporosis and healthy women going through menopause. Two groups of menopausal women took part in the study – 41 women with osteoporosis and 22 without osteoporosis. The levels of vitamin D, parathormone, alkaline phosphatase, calcium and phosphorus were examined during the autumn-winter period. Calcium, phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase were established within the reference range in both groups. A negative correlation with increase of parathormone levels among the patients with osteoporosis and vitamin D deficiency was found (r = -0.46, p<0.01). 16 women with osteoporosis (39%) were with normal levels of vitamin D, 14 (34,1%) were with insufficiency and 11 (26,9%) with deficiency. Within the control group, 8 women (36,4%) were with normal levels of vitamin D, 12 (54,5%) were with insufficiency and 2 (9,1%) with deficiency.