Explore the vast range of titles available.

In addition to stabilizing blood pressure (BP), ephedrine and phenylephrine have distinct effects on regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO 2 ). However, whether its effect on rSO 2 affects the occurrence of postoperative delirium (POD) remains unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study is to compare the effects of ephedrine and phenylephrine for BP maintenance on the incidence of POD in olderly adults who underwent knee arthroplasty under general anesthesia. One hundred twenty patients who were between 60 and 90 years old and underwent knee arthroplasty were included in this study. The patients were randomly divided into two groups: the ephedrine group and the phenylephrine group. After anesthesia induction, ephedrine and phenylephrine were continuously infused to maintain the intraoperative mean arterial pressure within the normal range (baseline mean arterial pressure ± 20%). The primary outcome measures included the incidence of POD within 1–3 days after surgery. The incidence of POD on the first day after surgery was lower in the ephedrine group than in the phenylephrine group (33% vs. 7%, P  < 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in the incidence of POD between the two groups on the second and third postoperative days. Compared with the phenylephrine group, the ephedrine group experienced significantly greater cardiac output (CO) and rSO 2 ( P  < 0.05). Clinical Trials Registry: ChiCTR2200064849, principal investigator: Changjian Zheng.

Previous evidence showed that use of phenylephrine was associated with higher umbilical artery pH (UA pH) than ephedrine after elective cesarean delivery (CD). However, the best choice of vasopressor and its effect on funic gases in cases of acute fetal compromise require additional studies. Ninety parturients showing acute fetal compromise during intrapartum period and taken up for CD (category II) under spinal anesthesia were randomized to receive prophylactic infusion of ephedrine 2.5mg/min or phenylephrine 30μg/min. Systolic blood pressure was targeted between 90% and 110% of baseline. Incidence of fetal acidosis (UA pH <7.2 and/or base deficit >12mmol/L) was recorded. Other parameters of cord gases, Apgar score, need for immediate resuscitation, maternal hemodynamics, and adverse events were also compared. Number of neonates showing acidosis with ephedrine or phenylephrine was comparable (P=.22). Of these, newborns with base deficit >12mmol had low 1-minute Apgar scores (n=15/23). The ephedrine group had higher oxygen content in UA (P=.03). There was no adverse neonatal outcome during the period of observation. Incidence of maternal nausea and vomiting was higher with ephedrine than with phenylephrine (22.2% vs 4.4%; P=.02). Maternal bradycardia was observed with phenylephrine (P=.02). Our data report similar fetal acidosis with either phenylephrine or ephedrine administered during spinal anesthesia for treating maternal hypotension in cases of emergency CD. •Fetal acidosis has been reported after spinal anesthesia.•Maintaining baseline blood pressure results in best neonatal outcome in elective CD.•Only retrospective data are available for CD indicated for acute fetal compromise.•We report fetal acidosis using vasopressor during CD for acute fetal compromise.

Ephedrine/caffeine combination (EC) has been shown to induce a small-to-moderate weight loss in obese patients. Several mechanisms have been proposed, among which an increased thermogenic capacity of skeletal muscle consequent to the EC-induced up-regulation of uncoupling protein 3 (UCP3) gene expression. We did a parallel group double-blind, placebo-controlled, 4-week trial to investigate this hypothesis. Thirteen morbidly obese women (25-52 years of age, body-mass index 48.0±4.0 kg/m2, range 41.1-57.6) were randomly assigned to EC (200/20 mg, n = 6) or to placebo (n = 7) administered three times a day orally, before undergoing bariatric surgery. All individuals had an energy-deficit diet equal to about 70% of resting metabolic rate (RMR) diet (mean 5769±1105 kJ/day). The RMR analysed by intention to treat and the UCP3 (long and short isoform) mRNA levels in rectus abdominis were the primary outcomes. Body weight, plasma levels of adrenaline, noradrenaline, triglycerides, free fatty acids, glycerol, TSH, fT4, and fT3 were assessed, as well as fasting glucose, insulin and HOMA index, at baseline and at the end of treatments. Body weight loss was evident in both groups when compared to baseline values (overall -5.2±3.2%, p<0.0001) without significant differences between the treated groups. EC treatment increased the RMR (+9.2±6.8%, p = 0.020), differently from placebo which was linked to a reduction of RMR (-7.6±6.5%, p = 0.029). No significant differences were seen in other metabolic parameters. Notably, no changes of either UCP3 short or UCP3 long isoform mRNA levels were evident between EC and placebo group. Our study provides evidence that 4-week EC administration resulted in a pronounced thermogenic effect not related to muscle UCP3 gene expression and weight loss in morbidly obese females under controlled conditions. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02048215.

Traditional Chinese medicines played an important role in the treatment of COVID-19 in 2020. Ephedra sinica, one of the major constituent herbs of multi-component herbal formula, has been widely used to treat COVID-19 in China. However, its active components are still unclear. The objectives of this study are to screen and evaluate active components from the traditional Chinese medicine Ephedra sinica for the treatment of COVID-19. In our study, we established an ACE2/CMC bioaffinity chromatography model, and then developed an ACE2/CMC-HPLC-IT-TOF-MS system for the active compounds screening and identification from Ephedra sinica extract. We performed molecular docking and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assays to assess the binding characteristics (binding mode and KD value). We used CCK-8 staining to assess the toxicity of screened compounds, and also used SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus to observe the viropexis effect of screened compounds in ACE2h cells. In this current work, one fraction was fished out, separated and identified as ephedrine (EP), pseudoephedrine (PEP), and methylephedrine (MEP). Binding assays showed that the three compounds could bind with ACE2 in a special way to some amino acid residues, similar to the way SARS-CoV-2 bound with ACE2. Additionally, the three compounds, especially EP, can inhibit the entrance of SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudovirus into ACE2h cells because they can reduce the entrance ratio of pseudovirus in the pseudovirus model. Overall, the ACE2/CMC-HPLC-IT-TOF-MS system was established and verified to be suitable for ACE2-targeted bioactive compound screening. EP, PEP, and MEP with ACE2-binding features were screened out from Ephedra sinica, and acted as blockers inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudovirus entering ACE2h cells.

Postoperative delirium (POD) is a common complication in elderly patients. Since ephedrine and phenylephrine have different effects on cerebral perfusion and oxygenation, this randomized controlled trial aimed to compare the impact of these two drugs on the incidence of POD in elderly patients undergoing total hip or knee arthroplasty under general anesthesia. A total of 142 elderly patients, aged 65 to 80 years, who underwent elective surgery for total hip or knee arthroplasty were randomly assigned to either the ephedrine group (Group E) or the phenylephrine group (Group P). POD was evaluated using the 3-minute Diagnostic Confusion Assessment Method (3D-CAM). The primary outcome was the incidence of POD within three days after surgery, while secondary outcomes included the subtypes of delirium, intraoperative hemodynamic changes, intraoperative analgesic consumption, and the occurrence of intraoperative and postoperative adverse events. Delirium occurred in 5 out of 65 cases (7.7%) in Group E and in 15 out of 67 cases (22.4%) in Group P (relative risk [RR], 0.344; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.132 to 0.891; p = 0.019). Compared to Group P, Group E exhibited a significantly lower incidence of intraoperative bradycardia (RR, 0.241; 95% CI, 0.114 to 0.508; p < 0.001). However, Group E also demonstrated a significantly higher consumption of intraoperative opioids (median difference [MD], 23.0; 95% CI, 2.0 to 25.0 mg; p = 0.020). Notably, despite the higher intraoperative opioid consumption in Group E, there was no statistically significant difference in postoperative pain scores between the two groups (p > 0.05). Additionally, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in other indicators, including intraoperative hemodynamic changes and the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (p > 0.05). In conclusion, among elderly patients undergoing hip or knee arthroplasty, the use of ephedrine to correct intraoperative hypotension was associated with a reduced incidence of POD within three days compared to phenylephrine. However, the absence of cerebral oxygen saturation monitoring and the limited follow-up period of only three days for POD assessment represent significant limitations. These factors should be carefully considered when interpreting our results.

Aims/hypothesis Brown adipose tissue (BAT) activation increases energy expenditure and may have therapeutic potential to combat obesity. The primary activating and adaptive signal for BAT is via β-adrenergic signalling. We previously demonstrated that human BAT is acutely responsive to oral administration of the sympathomimetic, ephedrine. Here we aimed to determine whether adaptive thermogenesis can be induced via chronic treatment with ephedrine. Methods Twenty-three healthy young men, recruited from the general public in Melbourne, Australia, who were non-smokers, physically inactive and non-medicated with no prior history of cardiovascular disease or diabetes were recruited for this study. They were assigned to receive either 1.5 mg kg −1  day −1 ephedrine (‘active’ group; n  = 12, age 23 ± 1 years, BMI 24 ± 1 kg/m 2 ) or placebo ( n  = 11; 22 ± 2 years, 23 ± 2 kg/m 2 ) for 28 days in a randomised (computer-generated random order sequence), placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial. Participants and all investigators were blinded to treatments. Body composition was measured before and after the intervention by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. BAT activity, measured via 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-computed tomography, in response to a single dose of 2.5 mg/kg ephedrine, was the primary outcome measure to be determined before and after the 28 day treatment period. Results Twenty-eight individuals were randomised and consented to the study. Twenty-three completed the trial and only these participants were included in the final analyses. After 28 days of treatment, the active group lost a significant amount of total body fat (placebo 1.1 ± 0.3 kg, ephedrine −0.9 ± 0.5 kg; p  < 0.01) and visceral fat (placebo 6.4 ± 19.1 g, ephedrine −134 ± 43 g; p  < 0.01), with no change in lean mass or bone mineral content compared with the placebo group. In response to acute ephedrine, BAT activity (change in mean standardised uptake value: placebo −3 ± 7%, ephedrine −22 ± 6%) and the increase in systolic blood pressure were significantly reduced ( p  < 0.05) in the active group compared with placebo. Conclusions/interpretation Chronic ephedrine treatment reduced body fat content, but this was not associated with an increase in BAT activity. Rather, chronic ephedrine suppressed BAT glucose disposal, suggesting that chronic ephedrine treatment decreased, rather than increased, BAT activity. Trial registration : ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02236962 Funding : This study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Program Grant (1036352) and the OIS scheme from the Victorian State Government.

When dexmedetomidine is used in patients undergoing spinal anesthesia, high incidence of bradycardia in response to parasympathetic activation is reported. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of atropine premedication for preventing the incidence of bradycardia and the hemodynamic effect on patients undergoing spinal anesthesia with sedation by dexmedetomidine. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Operating room. One hundred fourteen patients (age range, 2-65 years; American Society of Anesthesiology class I-II) participated in this study, willing to be sedated and to undergo spinal anesthesia. The patients were divided into 2 groups: group A and group C. After performing spinal anesthesia, dexmedetomidine was infused at a loading dose of 0.6 μg/kg for 10 minutes, followed by an infusion at 0.25 μg/(kg h). Simultaneously with the loading dose of dexmedetomidine, patients in group A received an intravenous bolus of 0.5 mg atropine, whereas patients in group C received an intravenous normal saline bolus. Data on administration of atropine and ephedrine were collected. Hemodynamic data including heart rate, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and mean blood pressure (MBP) were also recorded. The incidence of bradycardia requiring atropine treatment was significantly higher in group C than group A (P=.035). However, the incidence of hypotension needing ephedrine treatment showed no significant difference between the 2 groups (P=.7). Systolic blood pressure and heart rate showed no significant differences between the 2 groups (P=.138 and .464, respectively). However, group A showed significant increases in DBP and MBP, and group C did not (P=.014 and .008, respectively). Prophylactic atropine reduces the incidence of bradycardia in patients undergoing spinal anesthesia with dexmedetomidine sedation. However, DBP and MBP showed significant increases in patients when prophylactic atropine was administrated. Therefore, atropine premedication should be administered cautiously. •Intravenous atropine premedication during sedation with dexmedetomidine in patients undergoing spinal anesthesia can reduce the incidence of bradycardia.•However, this intervention increases diastolic and mean blood pressure significantly.

BackgroundPost-induction anaesthesia often promotes intraoperative hypotension (IOH) that can worsen postoperative outcomes. This study aims to assess the benefit of norepinephrine versus ephedrine at the induction of anaesthesia to prevent postoperative complications following major abdominal surgery by preventing IOH.Methods and analysisThe EPON STUDY is a prospective single-centre randomised controlled trial with the planned inclusion of 500 patients scheduled for major abdominal surgery at the Amiens University Hospital. The inclusion criteria are patients aged over 50 years weighing more than 50 kg with an American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status score of ≥2 undergoing major abdominal surgery under general anaesthesia. Patients are allocated either to the intervention group (n=250) or the standard group (n=250). In the intervention group, the prevention of post-induction IOH is performed with norepinephrine (dilution to 0.016 mg/mL) using an electric syringe pump at a rate of 0.48 mg/h (30 mL/h) from the start of anaesthesia and then titrated to achieve the haemodynamic target. In the control group, the prevention of post-induction IOH is performed with manual titration of ephedrine, with a maximal dose of 30 mg, followed by perfusion with norepinephrine. In both groups, the haemodynamic target to maintain is a mean arterial pressure (MAP) of 65 mm Hg or 70 mm Hg for patients with a medical history of hypertension. An intention-to-treat analysis will be performed. The primary outcome is the Clavien–Dindo score assessed up to 30 days postoperatively. The secondary endpoints are the length of hospital stay and length of stay in an intensive care unit/postoperative care unit; postoperative renal function; postoperative cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological, haematological and infectious complications at 1 month; and volume of intraoperative vascular filling and mortality at 1 month.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval was obtained from the committee of protection of the persons of Ile de France in May 2021 (number 21 05 41). The authors will be involved in disseminating the research findings (through attending conferences and co-authoring papers). The results of the study will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications and presentations at national and international conferences.Trial registration number NCT05276596.

Background Phenylephrine and ephedrine are frequently used vasopressors for treating intraoperative hypotension. However, their impact on cerebral oxygenation and blood flow remains a subject of debate. This study aims to understand their effects on cerebral oxygen saturation and hemodynamics when used for treatment of intraoperative hypotension. Methods The adult patients undergoing major abdominal surgery under general anesthesia were randomly assigned into ephedrine (ED) group or phenylephrine (PE) group. They received an intravenous bolus of either ephedrine or phenylephrine for treating intraoperative transient hypotension. The primary outcome was their effects on regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rScO 2 ). The secondary outcomes included cerebral hemodynamics middle cerebral artery velocity (MCAvm), pulsatility index (PI), and resistance index (RI), as well as systemic hemodynamics arterial blood pressure (ABP), heart rate (HR), cardiac output (CO), cardiac index (CI), stroke volume (SV) and stroke volume index (SVI). Additionally, two indices of cerebral autoregulation, mean flow index (Mx a ) and cerebral oximetry index (CO X ), were calculated in real-time via ICM + software. Results Forty patients were included in this study. The initial results showed ephedrine increased rScO 2 ( p  < 0.001), while phenylephrine increased Mx a ( p  < 0.02) and CO X ( p  < 0.007), respectively. However, upon further linear-mix model analysis, the effects of both drugs on rScO 2 ( p  = 0.944), Mx a ( p  = 0.093) and CO X ( p  = 0.084) were found to be non-significant. Compared with the hemodynamic parameters during hypotension, the systolic blood pressure (SBP) ( p  < 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) ( p  < 0.001), mean arterial pressure (MAP) ( p  < 0.001), and MCAvm ( p  < 0.001) significantly increased after both ephedrine and phenylephrine administration. However, no significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of the changes in MAP ( p  = 0.549) and MCAvm ( p  = 0.173). And there were significant increases in CO ( p  < 0.001), HR ( p  < 0.001), and CI ( p  < 0.001) following ephedrine administration, while decreases in HR ( p  < 0.001), CO ( p  < 0.001), and CI ( p  < 0.001) after phenylephrine administration. Conclusion In the management of intraoperative hypotension, both phenylephrine and ephedrine effectively increase MAP and MCAvm, albeit with their differential effects on CO and HR. It seems that neither vasopressor has a significant impact on cerebral oxygenation and cerebral autoregulation.

A total of 147 oral Kampo prescriptions, which are used clinically in Japan, were evaluated for their anti-glycation activity. Kakkonto demonstrated significant anti-glycation activity, prompting further analysis of its chemical constituents using LC-MS, which revealed the presence of two alkaloids, fourteen flavonoids, two but-2-enolides, five monoterpenoids, and four triterpenoid glycosides. To identify the components responsible for its anti-glycation activity, the Kakkonto extract was reacted with glyceraldehyde (GA) or methylglyoxal (MGO) and analyzed using LC-MS. In LC-MS analysis of Kakkonto reacted with GA, the peak intensity of ephedrine was attenuated, and three products from ephedrine-scavenging GA were detected. Similarly, LC-MS analysis of Kakkonto reacted with MGO revealed two products from ephedrine reacting with MGO. These results indicated that ephedrine was responsible for the observed anti-glycation activity of Kakkonto. Ephedrae herba extract, which contains ephedrine, also showed strong anti-glycation activity, further supporting ephedrine’s contribution to Kakkonto’s reactive carbonyl species’ scavenging ability and anti-glycation activity.