My dear Ms. L -

A full text copy of "Differential expression patterns of cytokines in complex regional pain syndrome" can be found listed alphbetically by author under the heading "Research" on the RSDSA Medical Archeives webpage at http://www.rsds.org/2/library/articl...ive/index.html

However, a subsequent, and by all appearances real interesting study (which I don't yet have access to in full text) came out a little more more ambiguously. Here's the abstact:

Systemic inflammatory mediators in post-traumatic complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS I) - longitudinal investigations and differences to control groups, Schinkel C, Scherens A, Köller M, Roellecke G, Muhr G, Maier C., Eur J Med Res. 2009 Mar 17; 14(3):130-5.

Berufsgenossenschaftliche Kliniken Bergmannsheil, Department of Surgery, Ruhr University, Bochum, Germany. christian.schinkel@ruhr-uni-bochum.de

OBJECTIVES: The Complex Regional Pain Syndrome I (CRPS I) is a disease that might affect an extremity after trauma or operation. The pathogenesis remains yet unclear. It has clinical signs of severe local inflammation as a result of an exaggerated inflammatory response but neurogenic dysregulation also contributes to it. Some studies investigated the role inflammatory mediators and cytokines; however, few longitudinal studies exist and control groups except healthy controls were not investigated yet. METHODS: To get further insights into the role of systemic inflammatory mediators in CRPS I, we investigated a variety of pro-, anti-, or neuro-inflammatory mediators such as C-Reactive Protein (CRP), White Blood Cell Count (WBC), Interleukins 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12 (p70), Interferon gamma, Tumor-Necrosis-Factor alpha (TNF-a) and its soluble Receptors I/II, soluble Selectins (E,L,P), Substance-P (SP), and Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide (CGRP) at different time points in venous blood from patients with acute (AC) and chronic (CC) CRPS I, patients with forearm fractures (FR), with neuralgia (NE), and from healthy volunteers (C). RESULTS: No significant changes for serum parameters investigated in CRPS compared to control groups were found except for CC/C (CGRP p = 0.007), FR/C (CGRP p = 0.048) and AC/CC (IL-12 p = 0.02; TNFRI/II p = 0.01; SP p = 0.049). High interindividual variations were observed. No intra- or interindividual correlation of parameters with clinical course (e.g. chronification) or outcome was detectable. CONCLUSION: Although clinically appearing as inflammation in acute stages, local rather than systemic inflammatory responses seem to be relevant in CRPS. Variable results from different studies might be explained by unpredictable intermittent release of mediators from local inflammatory processes into the blood combined with high interindividual variabilities. A clinically relevant difference to various control groups was not notable in this pilot study. Determination of systemic inflammatory parameters is not yet helpful in diagnostic and follow-up of CRPS I.

PMID: 19380284 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez

That said, I found something that would have made Vic - an old friend of the board - very happy: even if it didn't mention ischemic reperfusion injuries. And it's on point, no less:

Grape-seed procyanidins prevent low-grade inflammation by modulating cytokine expression in rats fed a high-fat diet, Terra X, Montagut G, Bustos M, Llopiz N, Ardčvol A, Bladé C, Fernández-Larrea J, Pujadas G, Salvadó J, Arola L, Blay M., J Nutr Biochem. 2009 Mar;20(3):210-8. Epub 2008 Jul 7.

Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Unitat d'Enologia del Centre de Referčncia en Tecnologia dels Aliments de la Generalitat de Catalunya, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.

OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of procyanidin intake on the level of inflammatory mediators in rats fed a hyperlipidic diet, which are a model of low-grade inflammation as they show an altered cytokine production. DESIGN: Male Zucker Fa/fa rats were randomly grouped to receive a low-fat (LF) diet, a high-fat (HF) diet or a high-fat diet supplemented with procyanidins from grape seed (HFPE) (3.45 mg/kg feed) for 19 weeks and were then euthanized. We determined biochemical parameters, C-reactive protein (CRP) and IL-6 levels in plasma. Adipose tissue depots and body weight were also determined. We assessed CRP, IL-6, TNF-alpha and adiponectin gene expression in liver and white adipose tissue (WAT). RESULTS: As expected, rats fed the HF diet show an enhanced production of CRP. Our results demonstrate that the HFPE diet decreases rat plasma CRP levels but not IL-6 levels. The decrease in plasma CRP in HFPE rats is related to a down-regulation of CRP mRNA expression in the liver and mesenteric WAT. We have also shown a decrease in the expression of the proinflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha and IL-6 in the mesenteric WAT. In contrast, adiponectin mRNA is increased in this tissue due to the procyanidin treatment. As previously reported, CRP plasma levels correlate positively with its expression in the mesenteric WAT, suggesting that procyanidin extract (PE) modulates CRP at the synthesis level. CRP plasma levels also correlate positively with body weight. As expected, body weight is associated with the adiposity index. Also, TNF-alpha expression and IL-6 expression have a strong positive correlation. In contrast, the expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine adiponectin correlates negatively with the expression of TNF-alpha and IL-6 in the mesenteric WAT. CONCLUSION: These results suggest a beneficial effect of PE on low-grade inflammatory diseases, which may be associated with the inhibition of the proinflammatory molecules CRP, IL-6 and TNF-alpha and the enhanced production of the anti-inflammatory cytokine adiponectin. These findings provide a strong impetus to explore the effects of dietary polyphenols in reducing obesity-related adipokine dysregulation to manage cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors.

PMID: 18602813 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez

be well,
Mike