Molnupiravir; an effective drug in treating COVID-19?

n/

Hope and fear; Paxlovid for COVID-19 treatment: A Letter to the Editor

n/

Hematological and Serum Biochemical Analyses in Experimental Caprine Besnoitiosis

This study was undertaken to investigate the hematological and biochemical changes in experimentally infected goats with Besnoitia caprae from the time of infection till 360 days post-infection (PI). Six male goats were inoculated subcutaneously with 13×107 bradyzoites of B. caprae, and blood samples were collected from the jugular vein. The total erythrocyte and total leukocyte counts, hematocrit value, and differential leukocyte counts were determined. Serum biochemical analysis, including the total protein, albumin, total globulin, cholesterol, triglyceride, chloride, testosterone, calcium (Ca2+), inorganic phosphorus, sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), iron (Fe2+), glucose, serum amyloid A (SAA), haptoglobin (Hp), fibrinogen, ceruloplasmin, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, and alkaline phosphatase, was undertaken. Skin biopsy from the limbs were collected at weekly intervals and histologically examined for Besnoitia cysts. Cysts were present in the skin biopsies of the leg of the infected goats from day 28 PI. There were variations in hematological analyses, but no significant difference was seen. From day 30 to 360 PI, results showed that SAA, Hp, fibrinogen, and ceruloplasmin concentrations increased, whereas testosterone concentrations decreased. Infected goats exhibited decrease of albumin and increase of serum total protein and globulin concentrations. By contrast, there were no significant differences in the remained analyses concentrations

Increasing the Number of Adverse Drug Reactions Reporting: the Role of Clinical Pharmacy Residents

Abstract Detection of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in hospitals provides an important measure of the burden of drug related morbidity on the healthcare system. Spontaneous reporting of ADRs is scare and several obstacles to such reporting have been identified formerly. This study aimed to determine the role of clinical pharmacy residents in ADR reporting within a hospital setting.Clinical pharmacy residents were trained to report all suspected ADRs through ADRreporting yellow cards. The incidence, pattern, seriousness, and preventability of the reported ADRs were analyzed. During the period of 12 months, for 8559 patients, 202 ADR reports were received. The most frequently reported reactions were due to anti-infective agents (38.38%). Rifampin accounted for the highest number of the reported ADRs among anti-infective agents. The gastro-intestinal system was the most frequently affected system (21.56%) of all reactions. Fifty four of the ADRs were reported as serious reactions. Eighteen of the ADRs were classified as preventable. Clinical pharmacy residents involvement in the ADR reporting program could improve the ADR reporting system

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Comparing Response Inhibition and Flexibility for Two Components of Executive Functioning in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Normal Children

Objective: The aim of this study was investigating and comparing two components of executive functioning in children with high function autism with normal children. Methods: this study was correlation descriptive (causal-comparative). There were two groups, one consisted of 15 participants of children with high function autism disorder (Intelligence quotient [IQ]>80) and the other consisted of 15 normal children, all age and education matched. They were compared with two neuro- cognitive tests, Color Word Stroop and Wisconsin Card Sorting, and one IQ test called Ravens Progressive Matrices test. Findings: Analysis of data showed significant difference in both executive functionings, response inhibition (Stroop) and flexibility (Wisconsin Card Sorting) between normal children and children with autism disorder, but there was no significant relation between age and IQ and executive functioning in children with autism. Conclusion: The results showed that children with autism disorder have deficits in executive functions regardless of their IQ level and it can be attributed to the symptoms of autism spectrum disorders

Comparing and the Relationship between Stress and Craving Usage in Addicted to Opium and Industrial Substances

Aim: According to the importance of stressful and impellent factors in severity of craving and after that treating successes, this study had done with purpose of examining the relationship between these factors with craving experience in addicted men in six groups (smoking of opium, inhalation of Heroin, smoking of Heroin, injection of Heroin, smoking of methamphetamine, smoking of crack). Method: In this descriptive-sectional study, 195 addicted men had referred to cold turkey centers in Rasht, during 10 months of 1389-1390 selected by available sampling method in six groups. Stress evaluation questionnaire of Markham and the questionnaire of instant craving drug of Franken and also profited by imaginary indexes of computer tests for severity of craving administered among selected samples. Results: The results showed that there is a significant and positive relationship between the stress and cue induction craving, and the stress and instant craving. Also, it proved that there is a significant difference between different users in degree of stress, and inductive craving, and instant craving. The average of stress scores, cue induction craving and instant craving in testing groups of methamphetamine users were more than other groups. Conclusion: According to findings of this survey, stress can be an important predicting factor for craving degree in addicted men so, attention of these aspects resulted in selecting an appropriate treatment of psychology for controlling of craving which is the most important factor leading to relapse in substance abuse

The Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Genitourinary Cancers Stage and Grade

Introduction : Our study aims to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of uro-oncological surgeries (cystectomy, nephrectomy, prostatectomy, orchiectomy, and transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT)) and pathological staging and grading. Materials and Methods : The present study is a retrospective study on patients with genitourinary cancers treated from 2018 to 2021 in a referral tertiary center. The data were obtained from the hospital records with lengths of 22 and 23 months, labeled hereafter as non-COVID and COVID pandemic, respectively (2018/3/21-2020/1/20 and 2020/1/21-2021/12/21). The total number of registered patients, gender, age, stage, and grade were compared in the targeted periods. Moreover, all the pathologic slides were reviewed by an expert uropathologist before enrolling in the study. The continuous and discrete variables are reported as mean (standard deviation (SD)) and number (percent) and the χ2 test for the comparison of the discrete variables' distribution. Results : In this study total number of 2077 patients were enrolled. The number of procedures performed decreased during the Covid pandemic. The tumors' distribution stage and grade and patients' baseline characteristics were not significantly different in non-COVID and COVID pandemic periods for Radical Nephrectomy, Radical Cystectomy, Radical Prostatectomy, and orchiectomy. For TURBT only, the tumor stage was significantly different (P-value<.001) from the higher stages in the COVID pandemic period. Conclusion : Among urinary tract cancers, staging of bladder cancer and TURBT are mainly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with higher stages compared to the non-COVID period. We evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of uro-oncological surgeries based on pathological staging and grading. Total number of 2077 patients were enrolled. Among urinary tract cancers, staging of bladder cancer and TURBT are mainly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with higher stages compared to the non-COVID period

Comparison of Cognitive Function in Different Trimesters of Pregnancy

Background: Although pregnancy is a normal function in women, it is considered as a stressful experience which is associated with many psychological and physical changes in pregnant women. Objectives: This study aims to investigate and compare cognitive function in different trimesters of pregnancy. Materials & Methods: This was a longitudinal cohort study. Participants were 76 pregnantwomen with a mean age of 30.09±6.23 years referred to Al-Zahra Hospital in Rasht, Iran during 2019-2020. Participants were assessed in three trimesters of pregnancy using the Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS) and Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE). The multilevel mixed-effects linear regression and repeated measures ANOVA were used for data analysis. All analyses were done in SPSS software v. 19 and Stata v. 14. Results: The mean score of WMS was significantly lower in the third trimester (84.95±12.07) than in the first and second trimesters (89.34±13.13 and 88.72±13.24, respectively) (P=0.001). The results of linear regression analysis showed no significant difference in MMSE score between different trimesters of pregnancy (P>0.05), while the WMS score was significantly different between different pregnancy trimesters; the change in WMS score was statistically significant only in the third trimester (P= 0.04). Conclusion: No impairment in general cognitive function occur during pregnancy, but memory impairment may occur. In the third trimester, pregnant women have the poorest memory function