Objective: Rare disease Background: Gall bladder volvulus is a rare clinical entity, with only around 500 cases reported in the literature. It is defined as the rotation of the gallbladder on its mesentery along the axis of the cystic pedicle, although cases of torsion of the gallbladder fundus itself have been reported. Case Report: A 78-year-old woman presented for severe right upper-quadrant abdominal pain that began acutely 3 days prior. Her pain was accompanied by nausea and vomiting. She also reported feeling chills. Abdominal X-ray revealed a 7-cm-diameter subhepatic opacity containing gas. Abdominal ultrasound and CT scan revealed a distended and displaced gallbladder located below the liver, in contact with the right kidney. Subsequently, open cholecystectomy was performed, and a distended, necrotic gallbladder was found twisted on its pedicle; thus, a gall bladder volvulus was diagnosed. Conclusions: In our patient, the classic patient characteristics of an elderly thin female with kyphosis were present. However, the rest of the presentation was not typical of gallbladder volvulus due to the patient's delay in seeking treatment, and was representative of the necrotic phase of gallbladder torsion, in which the patient becomes ill-appearing, with fever and chills, with significant abdominal rigidity.

How individuals respond to chronic stress varies. Susceptible individuals ultimately develop depression; whereas resilient individuals live normally. In this study, our objective was to examine the effect of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA), commonly used by athletes, on susceptibility to stress. Male C57BL/6 mice were subjected to daily defeat sessions by a CD1 aggressor, for 10 days. On day11, the behavior of mice was assessed using the social interaction test, elevated plus maze and open field. Mice received the BCAA leucine, isoleucine or valine before each defeat session. Furthermore, we examined whether BCAA regulate brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) signaling by using a brain-permeable tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TRKB) inhibitor, ANA-12. We also tested the effect of voluntary exercise and high protein diets on susceptibility to stress. Mice exposed to chronic stress displayed increased susceptibility and social avoidance. BCAA promoted resilience to chronic stress, rescued social avoidance behaviors and increased hippocampal BDNF levels and TRKB activation. Inhibition of TRKB signaling abolished the ability of BCAA to promote resilience to stress and to rescue social avoidance. Interestingly, we found that BCAA activate the exercise-regulated PGC1a/FNDC5 pathway known to induce hippocampal BDNF signaling. Although both voluntary exercise and BCAA promoted resilience to stress, combining them did not yield synergistic effects confirming that they affect similar pathways. We also discovered that high protein diets mimic the effect of BCAA by rescuing social deficits induced by chronic stress and increase Bdnf expression in the hippocampus. Our data indicate that BCAA, exercise and high protein diets rescue susceptibility to stress by activating the hippocampal BDNF/TRKB signaling.

Background Delirium is a highly prevalent and morbid syndrome in mechanically ventilated intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Music is a promising non-pharmacological intervention with beneficial effects on anxiety and stress, while its effects on delirium duration and severity are not well understood. Methods/design Our study is a two-arm, randomized parallel-group, clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy of music intervention compared to a silence-track attention control on delirium/coma duration in mechanically ventilated critically ill older adults. One hundred sixty mechanically ventilated adults 50 years of age or older will be randomized to one of two arms within 72 h of ICU admission: (1) 1-h music listening sessions twice daily through noise-canceling headphones, or (2) 1-h sessions of a silence track twice daily through noise-canceling headphones. Our primary aim is to compare delirium/coma-free days after randomization during the 7-day study intervention phase using the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (CAM ICU) and the Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS) for delirium and coma. Secondary outcomes include pain and anxiety evaluated twice daily during the intervention phase and throughout the duration of ICU stay using the Critical Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) and visual analog scale-anxiety (VAS-A). Enrolled participants will be followed after hospital discharge to further measure cognition as well as screening for depression and anxiety using the following telephone-based instruments: Indiana University Telephone-Based Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (IU TBANS), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). Discussion This randomized clinical trial will measure the efficacy of a music listening intervention for delirium and coma duration early in the intensive care unit among older adults. Trial registration. ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT04182334.

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