Editorial: What does it take to cure the brain? Studies towards genes, proteins, processes, and rehabilitation

Editorial on the Research Topic What does it take to cure the brain? Studies toward genes, proteins, processes, and rehabilitatio

Cuerpo Nacional de Policía: Las redes sociales como herramientas para llegar a nuevos públicos

Las redes sociales se han convertido en los medios de comunicación referentes y en auge de la era digital. Poco a poco la sociedad y el mundo en el que vivimos se irá digitalizando cada vez más y pueden ser de mucha ayuda para socializar, innovación académica, laboral y empresarial. El efecto que tienen las redes sociales es de carácter influenciador y se deben utilizar con la máxima responsabilidad, ética y moral debido a que estamos hablando de que se puede cambiar una parte de la opinión pública además de la sociedad. Ligado al concepto de las redes sociales encontramos la definición del engagement, es un aspecto muy importante debido a que hablamos de la afinidad y eficacia con el público objetivo y receptores del contenido que se ha subido a la plataforma. De esta manera, se puede tener una guía para poder hacer mejoras en las estrategias de comunicación en las redes.Grado en Publicidad y Relaciones Pública

Efficaciousness of low affinity compared to high affinity TSPO ligands in the inhibition of hypoxic mitochondrial cellular damage induced by cobalt chloride in human lung H1299 cells

The 18 kDa translocator protein (TSPO) plays an important role in apoptotic cell death, including apoptosis induced by the hypoxia mimicking agent cobalt chloride (CoCl2). In this study, the protective effects of a high (CB86; Ki = 1.6 nM) and a low (CB204; Ki = 117.7 nM) affinity TSPO ligands were investigated in H1299 lung cancer cell line exposed to CoCl2. The lung cell line H1299 was chosen in the present study since they express TSPO and able to undergo programmed cell death. The examined cell death markers included: ATP synthase reversal, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, mitochondrial membrane potential (D m) depolarization, cellular toxicity, and cellular viability. Pretreatment of the cells with the low affinity ligand CB204 at a concentration of 100 μM suppressed significantly (p < 0.05 for all) CoCl2-induced cellular cytotoxicity (100%), ATP synthase reversal (67%), ROS generation (82%), D m depolarization (100%), reduction in cellular density (97%), and also increased cell viability (85%). Furthermore, the low affinity TSPO ligand CB204, was harmless when given by itself at 100 μM. In contrast, the high affinity ligand (CB86) was significantly effective only in the prevention of CoCl2-induced ROS generation (39%, p < 0.001), and showed significant cytotoxic effects when given alone at 100 μM, as reflected in alterations in ADP/ATP ratio, oxidative stress, mitochondrial membrane potential depolarization and cell death. It appears that similar to previous studies on brain-derived cells, the relatively low affinity for the TSPO target enhances the potency of TSPO ligands in the protection from hypoxic cell death. Moreover, the high affinity TSPO ligand CB86, but not the low affinity ligand CB204, was lethal to the lung cells at high concentration (100 μM). The low affinity TSPO ligand CB204 may be a candidate for the treatment of pulmonary diseases related to hypoxia, such as pulmonary ischemia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD

Quality of dying in hospital general wards: a cross-sectional study about the end-of-life care

Abstract Background In the last decade, access to national palliative care programs have improved, however a large proportion of patients continued to die in hospital, particularly within internal medicine wards. Objectives To describe treatments, symptoms and clinical management of adult patients at the end of their life and explore whether these differ according to expectation of death. Methods Single-centre cross-sectional study performed in the medical and surgical wards of a large tertiary-level university teaching hospital in the north of Italy. Data on nursing interventions and diagnostic procedure in proximity of death were collected after interviewing the nurse and the physician responsible for the patient. Relationship between nursing treatments delivered and patients’ characteristics, quality of dying and nurses’ expectation about death was summarized by means of multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). Results Few treatments were found statistically associated with expectation of death in the 187 patients included. In the last 48 h, routine (70.6%) and biomarkers (41.7%) blood tests were performed, at higher extent on patients whose death was not expected. Many symptoms classified as severe were reported when death was highly expected, except for agitation and respiratory fatigue which were reported when death was moderately expected. A high Norton score and absence of anti-bedsore mattress were associated with unexpected death and poor quality of dying, as summarized by MCA. Quality of dying was perceived as good by nurses when death was moderately and highly expected. Physicians rated more frequently than nurses the quality of dying as good or very good, respectively 78.6 and 57.8%, denoting a fair agreement between the two professionals (k = 0.24, P <  0.001). The palliative care consultant was requested for only two patients. Conclusion Staff in medical and surgical wards still deal inadequately with the needs of dying people. Presence of hospital-based specialist palliative care could lead to improvements in the patients’ quality of life

A point prevalence study of catheter associated urinary tract infections among patients admitted in an university hospital

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common type of healthcare associated infection in acute care hospitals. Most involve urinary drainage devices, such as urinary catheter. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of catheter-associated urinary tract infections in adult patients of a tertiary level university hospital.Methods: The point prevalence study was conducted in one single day and included all adult patients admitted in medical, surgical wards and intensive care units. The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) criteria were adopted to classify the different type of UTIs.Results: Out of a total of 497 adult inpatients, 94 patients had a urinary catheter for at least 48 hours. The prevalence of symptomatic urinary tract infection (SUTI) in this sample is 17%. Escherichia coli (31.2%), Enterococcus faecium (25.0%) and Enterococcus faecalis (12.5%) are the most common pathogens found.Conclusions: The main isolated uropathogens in this study are Gram-negative and Escherichia coli remains one of the most frequent cause of UTIs in human. Gram-negative pathogens have multiple virulent factors responsible for their adherence to uroepithelium and urinary catheter positioning facilitates the transmission of these pathogens to urinary tract. Urinary catheterization is frequently used as solution to facilitate continence and maintain skin integrity in elderly patients. Urinary incontinence frequently is an example of inappropriate use of urinary catheter: for that reason, urinary catheter should be considered as the last option if other solution, like incontinence pads, are not indicated

Bridging Pharmaceutical Chemistry with Drug and Nanoparticle Targeting to Investigate the Role of the 18-kDa Translocator Protein TSPO.

An interesting mitochondrial biomarker is the 18‐kDa mitochondrial translocator protein (TSPO). Decades of study have shown that this protein plays an important role in a wide range of cellular functions, including opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore as well as programmed cell death and proliferation. Variations in TSPO expression have been correlated to different diseases, from tumors to endocrine and neurological disorders. TSPO has therefore become an appealing target for both early diagnosis and selective mitochondrial drug delivery. The number of structurally different TSPO ligands examined has increased over time, highlighting the scientific community′s growing understanding of the roles of TSPO in normal and pathological conditions. However, only few TSPO ligands are characterized by the presence of groups that are potentially derivatizable; therefore only few such ligands are well suited for the preparation of targeted prodrugs or nanocarriers able to deliver therapeutics and/or diagnostic agents to mitochondria. This review provides an overview of the very few examples of drug delivery systems characterized by moieties that target TSPO

Effectiveness of a controlled 5-fu delivery based on fzd10 antibody-conjugated liposomes in colorectal cancer in vitro models

The use of controlled delivery therapy in colorectal cancer (CRC) reduces toxicity and side effects. Recently, we have suggested that the Frizzled 10 (FZD10) protein, a cell surface receptor belonging to the FZD protein family that is overexpressed in CRC cells, is a novel candidate for targeting and treatment of CRC. Here, the anticancer effect of novel immuno-liposomes loaded with 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), decorated with an antibody against FZD10 (anti-FZD10/5-FU/LPs), was evaluated in vitro on two different CRC cell lines, namely metastatic CoLo-205 and nonmetastatic CaCo-2 cells, that were found to overexpress FZD10. The anti-FZD10/5-FU/LPs obtained were extensively characterized and their preclinical therapeutic efficacy was evaluated with the MTS cell proliferation assay based on reduction of tetrazolium compound, scratch test, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopes (FE-SEM) investigation and immunofluorescence analysis. The results highlighted that the cytotoxic activity of 5-FU was enhanced when encapsulated in the anti-FZD10 /5-FU/LPs at the lowest tested concentrations, as compared to the free 5-FU counterparts. The immuno-liposomes proposed herein possess a great potential for selective treatment of CRC because, in future clinical applications, they can be encapsulated in gastro-resistant capsules or suppositories for oral or rectal delivery, thereby successfully reaching the intestinal tract in a minimally invasive manner

Stability data of extemporaneous suspensions of hydroxychloroquine sulphate in oral liquid bases after tablet manipulation

Hydroxychloroquine is a well-known anti-malarial and anti-rheumatic drug that has garnered recently unprecedented attention as potential therapeutic agent against virus infections. Hydroxychloroquine sulphate is authorized in the EU as film-coated tablets (i.e. Plaquenil®), which cannot be administered to non-cooperative patients, such as those in intensive care units or, more in general, unable to swallow solid dosage forms. Therefore, the hospital pharmacist must manipulate the solid dosage form for the preparation of suspension, even if it can strongly affect the product quality. In this scenario, it is crucial to offer useful information and advice to assist hospital pharmacists in their activity. The data presented in this article suggest that extemporaneous suspensions of hydroxychloroquine sulphate in oral liquid bases after tablet manipulation are stable for at least 30 days

HMGA1 is a new biomarker of liposarcoma progression

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Spray-dried mucoadhesives for intravesical drug delivery using N-acetylcysteine- and glutathione-glycol chitosan conjugates

This work describes N-acetylcysteine (NAC)- and glutathione (GSH)-glycol chitosan (GC) polymer conjugates engineered as potential platform useful to formulate micro-(MP) and nano-(NP) particles via spray-drying techniques. These conjugates are mucoadhesive over the range of urine pH, 5.0-7.0, which makes them advantageous for intravesical drug delivery and treatment of local bladder diseases. NAC- and GSH-GC conjugates were generated with a synthetic approach optimizing reaction times and purification in order to minimize the oxidation of thiol groups. In this way, the resulting amount of free thiol groups immobilized per gram of NAC-and GSH-GC conjugates was 6.3 and 3.6 mmol, respectively. These polymers were completely characterized by molecular weight, surface sulfur content, solubility at different pH values, substitution and swelling degree. Mucoadhesion properties were evaluated in artificial urine by turbidimetric and zeta (zeta)-potential measurements demonstrating good mucoadhesion properties, in particular for NAC-GC at pH 5.0. Starting from the thiolated polymers, MP and NP were prepared using both the Bidchi B-191 and Nano Buchi B-90 spray dryers, respectively. The resulting two formulations were evaluated for yield, size, oxidation of thiol groups and ex-vivo mucoadhesion. The new spray drying technique provided NP of suitable size (&lt;1 mu m) for catheter administration, low degree of oxidation, and sufficient mucoadhesion property with 9% and 18% of GSH- and NAC-GC based NP retained on pig mucosa bladder after 3 h of exposure, respectively