Advertising of Ultra-Processed Foods in Preschool Youtubers during COVID-19

Extended crises in which preschool audiences increase screen time and negatively affect eating habits should bring about the enforcement of stricter controls over covert advertising. This article aims to identify and analyze covert advertising for ultra-processed food brands posted by popular child YouTubers Vlad and Niki during the COVID-19 state of alarm. The method was a content analysis of 802 brands detected in 249 videos posted on the Spanish-language channel from its first broadcasting (December 2018) to January 2021. The emplacement of 102 brands (13.3%) corresponded with food products. It was found that the number of ultra-processed food brands advertised by these YouTubers increased with the COVID-19 pandemic. Posts failed to visibly and understandably reveal the YouTuber's connection with the advertiser. YouTubers expressed enthusiasm and admiration while consuming the advertised products. This puts the health of the group at risk when verifying in previous studies that there is a relationship between this type of advertising and childhood obesity.En crisis sanitarias como la de la COVID-19, en la que aumenta el consumo de YouTube por parte de la audiencia preescolar y empeoran sus hábitos alimenticios, resulta primordial mantener un mayor control de la publicidad que consume este público en esta red social. Este artículo tiene como propósito identificar y analizar la publicidad de marcas de alimentos ultraprocesados emitida por los populares youtubers infantiles Vlad y Niki durante el estado de alarma por la COVID-19. Se realizó un análisis de contenido de 802 marcas detectadas en 249 vídeos publicados en el canal en español desde su apertura (diciembre de 2018) hasta enero de 2021. Se encontró que durante la COVID-19 los youtubers promocionaron un mayor número de marcas de alimentos ultraprocesados sin revelar el vínculo con el anunciante en un lugar visible y comprensible, y que expresaron emociones positivas al consumirlos. Esto pone en riesgo la salud del colectivo al constatar en estudios previos que existe una relación entre este tipo de publicidad y la obesidad infantil

Synthesis and antileishmanial activity of C7-and C12-functionalized dehydroabietylamine derivatives

Abietane-type diterpenoids, either naturally occurring or synthetic, have shown a wide range of pharmacological actions, including antiprotozoal properties. In this study, we report on the antileishmanial evaluation of a series of (+)-dehydroabietylamine derivatives functionalized at C7 and/or C12. Thus, the activity in vitro against Leishmania infantum, Leishmania donovani, Leishmania amazonensis and Leishmania guyanensis, was studied. Most of the benzamide derivatives showed activities at low micromolar concentration against cultured promastigotes of Leishmania spp. (IC50 = 2.2-46.8 mu M), without cytotoxicity on J774 macrophage cells. Compound 15, an acetamide, was found to be the most active leishmanicidal agent, though it presented some cytotoxicity on J774 cells. Among the benzamide derivatives, compounds 8 and 10, were also active against L. infantum intracellular amastigotes, being 18- and 23-fold more potent than the reference compound miltefosine, respectively. Some structure-activity relationships have been identified for the antileishmanial activity in these dehydroabietylamine derivatives. (C) 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.Financial support by the Spanish Government MINECO is gratefully acknowledged.Dea-Ayuela, MA.; Bilbao-Ramos, P.; Bolás-Fernández, F.; González-Cardenete, MA. (2016). Synthesis and antileishmanial activity of C7-and C12-functionalized dehydroabietylamine derivatives. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 121:445-450. doi:10.1016/j.ejmech.2016.06.004S44545012

Transferosomes as nanocarriers for drugs across the skin : quality by design from lab to industrial scale

Transferosomes, also known as transfersomes, are ultradeformable vesicles for transdermal applications consisting of a lipid bilayer with phospholipids and an edge activator and an ethanol/aqueous core. Depending on the lipophilicity of the active substance, it can be encapsulated within the core or amongst the lipid bilayer. Compared to liposomes, transferosomes are able to reach intact deeper regions of the skin after topical administration delivering higher concentrations of active substances making them a successful drug delivery carrier for transdermal applications. Most transferosomes contain phosphatidylcholine (C18) as it is the most abundant lipid component of the cell membrane, and hence, it is highly tolerated for the skin, decreasing the risk of undesirable effects, such as hypersensitive reactions. The most common edge activators are surfactants such as sodium deoxycholate, Tween® 80 and Span® 80. Their chain length is optimal for intercalation within the C18 phospholipid bilayer. A wide variety of drugs has been successfully encapsulated within transferosomes such as phytocompounds like sinomenine or apigenin for rheumatoid arthritis and leukaemia respectively, small hydrophobic drugs but also macromolecules like insulin. The main factors to develop optimal transferosomal formulations (with high drug loading and nanometric size) are the optimal ratio between the main components as well as the critical process parameters for their manufacture. Application of quality by design (QbD), specifically design of experiments (DoE), is crucial to understand the interplay among all these factors not only during the preparation at lab scale but also in the scale-up process. Clinical trials of a licensed topical ketoprofen transferosomal gel have shown promising results in the alleviation of symptons in orthreothritis with non-severe skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders. However, the product was withdrawn from the market which probably was related to the higher cost of the medicine linked to the expensive manufacturing process required in the production of transferosomes compared to other conventional gel formulations. This example brings out the need for a careful formulation design to exploit the best properties of this drug delivery system as well as the development of manufacturing processes easily scalable at industrial level

Orally bioavailable and effective buparvaquone lipid-based nanomedicines for visceral leishmaniasis

Nanoenabled lipid-based drug delivery systems offer a platform to overcome challenges encountered with current failed leads in the treatment of parasitic and infectious diseases. When prepared with FDA or EMA approved excipients, they can be readily translated without the need for further toxicological studies, while they remain affordable and amenable to scale-up. Buparvaquone (BPQ), a hydroxynapthoquinone with in vitro activity in the nanomolar range, failed to clinically translate as a viable treatment for visceral leishmaniasis due to its poor oral bioavailability limited by its poor aqueous solubility (BCS Class II drug). Here we describe a self-nanoemulsifying system (SNEDDS) with high loading and thermal stability up to 6 months in tropical conditions and the ability to enhance the solubilization capacity of BPQ in gastrointestinal media as demonstrated by flow-through cell and dynamic in vitro lipolysis studies. BPQ SNEDDS demonstrated an enhanced oral bioavailability compared to aqueous BPQ dispersions (probe-sonicated), resulting in an increased plasma AUC 0-24 by 55% that is 4-fold higher than any previous reported values for BPQ formulations. BPQ SNEDDS can be adsorbed on low molecular glycol chitosan polymers forming solid dispersions that when compressed into tablets allow the complete dissolution of BPQ in gastrointestinal media. BPQ SNEDDS and BPQ solid SNEDDS demonstrated potent in vitro efficacy in the nanomolar range (<37 nM) and were able to near completely inhibit parasite replication in the spleen while also demonstrating 48 ± 48 and 56 ± 23% inhibition of the parasite replication in the liver, respectively, compared to oral miltefosine after daily administration over 10 days. The proposed platform technology can be used to elicit a range of cost-effective and orally bioavailable noninvasive formulations for a range of antiparasitic and infectious disease drugs that are needed for closing the global health innovation gap

Investigación de trichinella SPP. en zorros de Catalunya

Se investiga la presencia de Trichinella spp. en 286 muestras congeladas de musculus tibialis anterior, de zorros (Vulpes vulpes) de Catalunya. Se detectan 3 positivos, en las comarcas de Anoia y el Pallars Jussà, identificándose estos dos últimos como T. britovi, con 20 LPG y 15 LPG. Se proponen recomendaciones técnicas para la toma de muestras y se concluye que el peso de la muestra es el principal factor limitante en la detección. Se presenta la comunicación "Investigación de Triquinella spp. en zorros de Catalunya", publicada en las XIII Jornadas sobre Producción Animal de AIDA, (Zaragoza, 2009) y la presentación expuesta.S'investiga la presència de Trichinella spp. en 286 mostres congelades de musculus tibialis anterior, de guineus (Vulpes vulpes) de Catalunya. Es detecten 3 positius, a les comarques de l'Anoia i el Pallars Jussà i s'identifiquen aquests dos últims com a T. britovi, amb 20 LPG i 15 LPG. Es proposen recomanacions tècniques per a la presa de mostres i es conclou que el pes de la mostra es el principal factor limitant en la detecció. Es presenta la comunicació "Investigación de Triquinella spp. en zorros de Catalunya", publicada a les XIII Jornadas sobre Producción Animal de AIDA, (Zaragoza, 2009) i la presentació exposada

Repurposing Butenafine as An Oral Nanomedicine for Visceral Leishmaniasis

Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease a_ecting more than 12 million people worldwide, which in its visceral clinical form (VL) is characterised by the accumulation of parasites in the liver and spleen, and can lead to death if not treated. Available treatments are not well tolerated due to severe adverse e_ects, need for parenteral administration and patient hospitalisation, and long duration of expensive treatments. These treatment realities justify the search for new e_ective drugs, repurposing existing licensed drugs towards safer and non-invasive cost-e_ective medicines for VL. In this work, we provide proof of concept studies of butenafine and butenafine self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery systems (B-SNEDDS) against Leishmania infantum. Liquid B-SNEDDS were optimised using design of experiments, and then were spray-dried onto porous colloidal silica carriers to produce solid-B-SNEDDS with enhanced flow properties and drug stability. Optimal liquid B-SNEDDS consisted of Butenafine:Capryol 90:Peceol:Labrasol (3:49.5:24.2:23.3 w/w), which were then sprayed-dried with Aerosil 200 with a final 1:2 (Aerosil:liquid B-SNEDDS w/w) ratio. Spray-dried particles exhibited near-maximal drug loading, while maintaining excellent powder flow properties (angle of repose <10_) and sustained release in acidic gastrointestinal media. Solid-B-SNEDDS demonstrated greater selectivity index against promastigotes and L. infantum-infected amastigotes than butenafine alone. Developed oral solid nanomedicines enable the non-invasive and safe administration of butenafine as a cost-e_ective and readily scalable repurposed medicine for VL

Trichinellosis survey in wild fauna from various regions of Spain

Se presentan los resultados del estudio de vigilancia epidemiológica de triquinelosis (Trichinella spiralis y T. britovi) en fauna salvaje (jabalí y zorro), llevado a cabo en Catalunya (2006-2008), La Rioja (2001-2003) y Castilla-La Mancha (2007-2008). Las prevalencias fluctúan entre 0,7-0,93 % en jabalí y 0,64-4,2 % en zorro. Póster. EPI 27. Abstract Book. 4th Annual Scientific Meeting (2008). MED-VET-NET. Saint-Malo, France. Autores: Manzano-Lorenzo R., Nogal-Ruíz J.J., Fonseca-Salamanca F., García-Sancho R.N., Arroyo-Díaz J.M., Jiménez S., Fàbregas X., Colomer A., Bolás-Fernández F., Martínez-Fernández A.M. 520 3_ $a Es presenten els resultats de l'estudi de vigilància epidemiològica de triquinel·losis (Trichinella spiralis y T. britovi) en fauna salvatge (porc senglar i guineu), portat a terme a Catalunya (2006-2008), La Rioja (2001-2003) i Castilla-La Mancha (2007-2008). Les prevalences fluctuen entre 0,7-0,93 % en senglar i 0,64-4,2 % en guineu. Pòster. EPI 27. Abstract Book. 4th Annual Scientific Meeting (2008). MED-VET-NET. Saint-Malo, France