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Didier Jourdan

Publications and source records attributed to Didier Jourdan.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Acute versus chronic pain treatment in Alzheimer's disease.

Several studies have suggested a lower consumption of analgesics in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) than in cognitively intact individuals (ND), but little attention has been paid to a distinction in analgesic consumption between acute and chronic pain treatment. The aim of this prospective and longitudinal study is a comparison in AD and ND residents at selection, and one year later, of analgesic consumption for acute and chronic pain, with an assessment of cognitive status (with the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE)). Three hundred institution residents (150 AD and 150 ND), 20% male and 80% female (84.4 +/- 8.3 years old), were included in this study. Analgesic consumption and MMSE were reassessed at one year's distance (period 1 P1 and 2 (P2)). Analgesic consumption for acute pain was not significantly different for AD and ND at selection time or one year later, while MMSE declined significantly for AD (6 +/- 7 (P1) versus 4 +/- 6 (P2) p < 0.01, and ND individuals 23 +/- 5 (P1) versus 20 +/- 6 (P2), p < 0.01, respectively). Chronic pain analgesic consumption however was significantly lower in AD than in ND (p < 0.01). These findings may suggest a dissociation between sensory-discriminative (lateral pain system) and motivational-affective (medial pain system) aspects of pain in individuals with AD. This dissociation must be further investigated as it may have important consequences for pain evaluation and pain treatment in this vulnerable population.

Acute Disease↗

Circadian pattern of spontaneous behavior in monarthritic rats: a novel global approach to evaluation of chronic pain and treatment effectiveness.

OBJECTIVE: Preclinical evaluation is an essential step in the assessment of new antiinflammatory or analgesic drugs. This study was undertaken to develop a new mode of evaluation of drug effectiveness based on behavior indicating well-being in a rat model of chronic inflammatory pain. We chose to examine the circadian pattern of spontaneous behavior. METHODS: The work was performed with a model of chronic monarthritis induced by Freund's complete adjuvant. Variations in behavioral patterns during the time course of arthritis were analyzed. In a second phase, the impact of acetaminophen and 2 nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (aspirin and celecoxib), which are currently used in clinical practice to treat chronic inflammation, was studied after 7 days of treatment. RESULTS: The nocturnal pattern of activity of healthy rats comprised 3 main bursts. Chronic painful monarthritis altered this spontaneous pattern of nocturnal behavior (normal period of activity). Monarthritic rats showed a decrease in the total time spent in activity during the night, and lost their pattern of activity. These behavioral disturbances were reversed after long-term treatment with acetaminophen or celecoxib, with celecoxib appearing to be more effective. Aspirin was ineffective. CONCLUSION: These results enabled us to test this new procedure as a means of assessing well-being or ill- being during stages of chronic inflammatory pain in rats, and the effectiveness of repeated pharmacologic treatments.

Acetaminophen↗

Decrease in non-selective, non-sustained attention induced by a chronic visceral inflammatory state as a new pain evaluation in rats.

The aim of this study was to develop a new behavioral pain test based on the evaluation of cognitive capacity impairments in rats with colitis and to determine the impact of different acute analgesic treatments. Colitis was induced in rats by an enema containing 2,4,6-trinitrobenzen sulfonic acid. Visual non-selective, non-sustained attentional level was assessed by a new behavioral testing procedure. Animals were familiarized on three consecutive days with an open field containing four small, similar, familiar objects. On the day of testing, one of the objects was randomly replaced by a new one. Attentional level was determined by the ability of the rat to perceive this small modification to its familiar environment. The effect of morphine, acetaminophen, aspirin or ibuprofen treatment was assessed on testing day and compared with that observed during a Von Frey test to assess referred tactile hypersensitivity of the skin of the lower back. Rats with colitis had decreased attentional level but no change in their locomotor activity, interest in the environment or memory encoding. Morphine (1 mg/kg, s.c. and 10 microg/rat, i.t.) and acetaminophen (200 mg/kg, p.o.) had a beneficial effect on attentional level and on referred tactile hypersensitivity. Testing for the latter showed that aspirin and ibuprofen (400 mg/kg, p.o.) were ineffective. The decrease in visual non-selective, non-sustained attention induced by chronic inflammatory painful state can be relieved by effective analgesic treatments. This finding could lead to the development of a new behavioral test to assess spontaneous pain in chronic painful subjects.

Acetaminophen↗

Absence of painful neuropathy after chronic oral fluoride intake in Sprague-Dawley and Lou/C rats.

The possibility that chronicle oral ingestion of fluoride-rich water could modify peripheral pain sensitivity was studied in two strains of adult rats, Sprague-Dawley and Lou/C rats. Sodium fluoride was given orally in water to male Sprague-Dawley (75 and 150 ppm) and Lou rats (150 ppm) for 15 and 27 weeks, respectively. Using classical behavioural evaluation methods of pain symptoms, only slight tendencies to a thermal hyperalgia and a mechanical allodynia were observed in Sprague-Dawley rats.

Administration, Oral↗

Analysis of ultrasonic vocalisation does not allow chronic pain to be evaluated in rats.

Most pain tests used for the assessment of drug analgesic activity in animal chronic pain models are based on the measurement of the response to an external acute stimulation (thermal, mechanical or electrical). But these stimuli are not related to the chronic pain experienced by the animal. Quantitative analysis of the spontaneous behaviour induced by the chronic pain state is needed. Several authors have suggested that ultrasonic vocalisations (USVs) emitted by rats in painful situations might reflect expression of affective pain. In a first study, we recorded spontaneous USVs in sub-chronic and chronic pain models: inflammation induced by carrageenan, arthritis induced by Freund's adjuvant and diabetes induced by streptozotocin. The USVs were analysed when naive Sprague-Dawley rats were alone and during non-agonistic interaction with a conspecific. When the rats were alone they did not emit any USV. During social interaction, no difference in either the frequency or the duration was observed between the emissions of healthy rats and rats in pain. In a third study, the influence of three parameters, degree of confrontation between the rats, age of the conspecific and housing conditions (isolated or collective) was studied in the arthritic rat model. Arthritic rats did not emit more USVs than controls in any of our experimental conditions. A fourth study showed that Aspirin (200 mg/kg) had no effect on the USVs, this data confirms the lack of direct relationship between USVs and experimental chronic pain in rats in our conditions.

Analgesics↗

Impact of ageing on the antinociceptive effect of reference analgesics in the Lou/c rat.

1. Research on the evolution of experimental pain perception and on the achievement of analgesia with ageing has led so far to contradictory results. 2. This study investigated in the rat the impact of ageing on the antinociceptive effect of reference analgesics, acetaminophen (50, 100, 200, 400 mg kg(-1) po), aspirin (50, 100, 200, 400 mg kg(-1) sc), clomipramine (5, 10, 20, 40 mg kg(-1) sc) and morphine (1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 mg kg(-1) sc). 3. Lou/c rats were chosen because they provide a model of healthy ageing and they do not develop obesity with age. Three groups of 40 rats each (mature (4 months), middle-aged (18 months) and old (26 months)), were treated with each drug at 14 days interval. Two tests were used: a thermal test (tail immersion in 48 degrees C water and measurement of reaction latency) and a mechanical test (paw pressure and measurement of struggle threshold). 4. Results confirm the increased mechanical sensitivity to pain and no change in thermal sensitivity for old rats compared to mature and middle-aged animals. They show a marked decrease in the effect of morphine with age and no age-related effect for acetaminophen, aspirin or clomipramine. Plasma levels of morphine and metabolites are not different in the three age groups. 5. It is likely that the influence of age on morphine analgesia is linked mainly to pharmacodynamic rather than pharmacokinetic changes.

Acetaminophen↗

The LOU/c/jall rat as an animal model of healthy aging?

We propose the LOU/c/jall rat as a possible model for research into aging. Physiological and behavioral data have been collected over the past 5 years, using lifelong and cross-sectional studies. The median life span of the rats was 29 months in males and 33-34 months in females. A low level of body fat throughout life was observed in both sexes. Basic phenomena of aging such as body weight loss, decrease in caloric intake, and dramatic drop in protein selection were noted from the age of 18 months in males and 28 months in females. A decline in muscle mass, depending on the sex and the type of muscle, was seen. These data allowed us to demonstrate physiological aging in male and female LOU/c/jall rats. The most interesting characteristics of this strain of rat for aging studies are longevity, and the absence of obesity and of severe pathologies. Further studies are required in order to confirm this last point.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

Effect of fenfluramine on caloric intake and macronutrient selection in Lou/c rats during aging.

Previous studies have shown a shift of preferences from carbohydrate to fat and a decrease in protein intake in self-selected Lou/c rats with advancing age. This study investigated a potential neurochemical mechanism underlying age-related modifications by evaluating the effects of fenfluramine (dl-F), a drug that enhances 5-HT release and blocks its re-uptake by presynaptic terminals, on macronutrient selection. The drug dl-F (1.5 and 3mg/kg s.c.) induces a dose-related hypophagia with the oldest animals being the most sensitive. The main decrease is in fat consumption with minor changes in carbohydrate and protein consumptions. Young, but not old animals, compensate during the day the nocturnal intake decrease induced by dl-F. The plasma concentration of dexfenfluramine (d-F) was higher as the rats aged. The icv administrations of dl-F induced a caloric intake decrease in the oldest groups and a differential effect on protein intake between old and young rats. Metergoline induced a partial reversion of dl-F effect on food intake but this effect was not age related. These data suggest a possible implication of serotoninergic system in modifications of food behavior during aging. However, further studies are needed.

Aging↗

Impact of age, gender and cognitive functioning on pain perception.

BACKGROUND: Experimental data on nociception in the elderly have so far been contradictory and most of these have been obtained using psychophysical methods with little attention paid simultaneously to the state of cognition and the psychometric performance of the subjects. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was twofold: (1) to evaluate the impact of age on experimental nociception thresholds, and (2) to investigate the interactions of age, sex, cognition and psychometric performance with nociception thresholds. METHODOLOGY: (1) Two groups, one young and one elderly, of 42 healthy participants each, 21 males and 21 females, were compared as regards nociception thresholds with thermal and mechanical stimuli (heat and pressure detection and tolerance thresholds). (2) The elderly group took cognitive (mini-mental test), psychometric (choice reaction time) and psychophysical tests in auditory (sensibility, tolerance, discrimination) and nociceptive fields. RESULTS: This study shows that (1) pressure nociception decreases with age especially in males, while thermal thresholds are not modified, and (2) correlations exist between cognitive function, psychometric performance, tolerance to loud sounds and tolerance to mechanical noxious stimuli. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that cognitive and psychomotor parameters have to be taken into account when assessing experimental nociception in the elderly. Further studies are needed to evaluate possible report biases and to assess these interactions in old patients with pain and in mildly sensory, cognitive or motor impaired elderly subjects.

Adult↗