Students

Name:Kou Shanglong

Post: Full-time Ph.D (3-years)

Enrolled: August 2014- Present

Origin:Mainland China

Supervisor:Prof. Matthew TV Chan

Title of Thesis:

Epigenetic Regulation of Chronic Postsurgical Pain

Outline of the Thesis:

Chronic postsurgical pain is defined as pain over the surgical site, for at least three months after surgery that cannot be explained by other causes, such as disease recurrence or a pre-existing pain syndrome. Depending on the type of surgery, the reported incidence of chronic postsurgical pain ranges from 5% following hernia repair to 30-85% after limb amputation and thoracotomy. Despite the magnitude of this problem, there is currently no proven strategy that reliably prevents chronic postsurgical pain.
In a prospectively planned, long-term follow-up study of the ENIGMA Trial participants in Hong Kong (n=423), we have reported that intraoperative administration of N2O reduced the risk of chronic postsurgical pain in the subsequent years after the index surgery [7.0% vs 14.8%, odds ratio (95% CI): 0.43 (0.23-0.83), p=0.01].
Using a validated rat model of chronic postsurgical pain, we plan to characterize the epigenetic mechanism of preventive analgesia after intraoperative administration of nitrous oxide.

Publications arising from his research work:

(A) Scientific Papers:

Sun L, Ouyang C, Kou S, Wang S, Yao Y, Peng T, Xu Y, Tang L, Chen F. Cloning and characterization of a cDNA encoding type 1 diacylglycerol acyltransferase from sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). Z Naturforsch C. 2011 Jan-Feb;66(1-2):63-72.