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Background: Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a severe multisystemic condition associated with post-infectious onset, impaired natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity and impaired ion channel function, namely Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 3 (TRPM3). Long-term effects of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus has resulted in neurocognitive, immunological, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular manifestations recently recognised as post coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) condition. The symptomatology of ME/CFS overlaps significantly with post COVID-19; therefore, this research aimed to investigate TRPM3 ion channel function in post COVID-19 condition patients., Methods: Whole-cell patch-clamp technique was used to measure TRPM3 ion channel activity in isolated NK cells of N = 5 ME/CFS patients, N = 5 post COVID-19 patients, and N = 5 healthy controls (HC). The TRPM3 agonist, pregnenolone sulfate (PregS) was used to activate TRPM3 function, while ononetin was used as a TRPM3 antagonist., Results: As reported in previous research, PregS-induced TRPM3 currents were significantly reduced in ME/CFS patients compared with HC (p = 0.0048). PregS-induced TRPM3 amplitude was significantly reduced in post COVID-19 condition compared with HC (p = 0.0039). Importantly, no significant difference was reported in ME/CFS patients compared with post COVID-19 condition as PregS-induced TRPM3 currents of post COVID-19 condition patients were similar of ME/CFS patients currents (p > 0.9999). Isolated NK cells from post COVID-19 condition and ME/CFS patients were resistant to ononetin and differed significantly with HC (p < 0.0001)., Conclusion: The results of this investigation suggest that post COVID-19 condition patients may have impaired TRPM3 ion channel function and provide further evidence regarding the similarities between post COVID-19 condition and ME/CFS. Impaired TRPM3 channel activity in post COVID-19 condition patients suggest impaired ion mobilisation which may consequently impede cell function resulting in chronic post-infectious symptoms. Further investigation into TRPM3 function may elucidate the pathomechanism, provide a diagnostic and therapeutic target for post COVID-19 condition patients and commonalities with ME/CFS patients., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Chronic cough management necessitates a clear integrated care pathway approach. Primary care physicians initially encounter the majority of chronic cough patients, yet their role in proper management can prove challenging due to limited access to advanced diagnostic testing. A multidisciplinary approach involving otolaryngologists and chest physicians, allergists, and gastroenterologists, among others, is central to the optimal diagnosis and treatment of conditions which underly or worsen cough. These include infectious and inflammatory, upper and lower airway pathologies, or gastro-esophageal reflux. Despite the wide armamentarium of ancillary testing conducted in cough multidisciplinary care, such management can improve cough but seldom resolves it completely. This can be due partly to the limited data on the role of tests (eg, spirometry, exhaled nitric oxide), as well as classical pharmacotherapy conducted in multidisciplinary specialties for chronic cough. Other important factors include presence of multiple concomitant cough trigger mechanisms and the central neuronal complexity of chronic cough. Subsequent management conducted by cough specialists aims at control of cough refractory to prior interventions and includes cough-specific behavioral counseling and pharmacotherapy with neuromodulators, among others. Preliminary data on the role of neuromodulators in a proof-of-concept manner are encouraging but lack strong evidence on efficacy and safety., Objectives: The World Allergy Organization (WAO)/Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) Joint Committee on Chronic Cough reviewed the recent literature on management of chronic cough in primary, multidisciplinary, and cough-specialty care. Knowledge gaps in diagnostic testing, classical and neuromodulator pharmacotherapy, in addition to behavioral therapy of chronic cough were also analyzed., Outcomes: This third part of the WAO/ARIA consensus on chronic cough suggests a management algorithm of chronic cough in an integrated care pathway approach. Insights into the inherent limitations of multidisciplinary cough diagnostic testing, efficacy and safety of currently available antitussive pharmacotherapy, or the recently recognized behavioral therapy, can significantly improve the standards of care in patients with chronic cough., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

Itch is a nociceptive sensation linked with reflexes and cognitive motor actions. We traditionally think of itch as a sensation of the skin related to allergy, an insect sting or interestingly, anxiety and frustration. Less understood and considered are the physiological processes involved in the itching sensation that occurs at mucosal and junctional dermal sites, which is extraordinary as from an evolutionary point of view these sites serve important guardian roles, rich in sensory nerves and inflammatory cells. Despite itch being an ancient reflex and evolutionarily conserved phenomenon, better clinical understanding of the nuances between sites of itch sensation may lead to improved clinical outcomes. This review invites readers to appreciate itch beyond the skin by highlighting several specific itch patterns-nasal, oral, auricular, vulvovaginal, anal, and perineal itch-the pathophysiological mechanisms that underlie them, the clinical patterns these may cause, and some unique treatments., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Lesslar and Smith.)

Where can we turn to find the story of our lives-an existential roadmap that explains where we have come from, why we are here, and where we are headed? Must each of us discover meaning within the context of our individual lives, or are there universal sources of meaning that we can all access? Is there any relationship between living a meaningful life and the quality of our health and well-being? And how can we find meaning in the face of adversity and suffering? Neurologist Jay Lombard, philosophers Massimo Pigliucci and Michael Ruse, and author Emily Esfahani Smith shed light on these perennial questions in conversation with Steve Paulson, executive producer and host of To the Best of Our Knowledge., (© 2018 New York Academy of Sciences.)