The validity of self-reported drug use with urine test: results from the pilot phase of Azar cohort study

Background: The present study aimed at assessing the validity of self-reported drug use in people aged 35 and older in a pilot phase of a population-based cohort study. Methods: A total of 1038 adults over 35 years old in Khamene city in East Azerbaijan province were recruited for the pilot phase of Azar cohort; a province-level of a nationwide PERSIAN cohort study completing a questionnaire and providing biological samples from October to December 2014. Information about the history and duration of smoking tobacco, using drug and medication were obtained by the physician. The validity of the drug use was assessed through comparing the questionnaire response with three urine strip tests for the detection of morphine, amphetamine and methamphetamine among 259 randomly selected subjects. Results: The prevalence of drug use according to self-report was 2.6% (95% CI: 1.7%-3.8%).One-step drug test as the gold standard for the use of drug self-reported demonstrated a sensitivity(95% CI) and specificity 15% (10-22) and 99.7% (98.9%-99.9%) respectively. All participants with positive self-report were male; however, in the urine analysis drug test, it was positive for 7out of 68 randomly selected women. Conclusion: The validity of self-reported drug use in this population was low; therefore, the self reported use of the drug should be used with caution in this population. It is recommended to use alternative techniques to improve the validity of data using the self-report procedure

Solubility of Anthracene in Ternary Solvent Mixtures of 2,2,4-Trimethylpentane + 2-Propanone + Alcohols at 298.15 K

This article discusses the solubility of anthracene in ternary solvent mixtures of 2,2,4-trimethylpentane + 2-propanone + alcohols at 298.15 K

Naphthalene Solubility in Binary Solvent Mixtures of 2,2,4-Trimethylpentane + Alcohols at 298.15 K

This article discusses naphthalene solubility in binary solvent mixtures of 2,2,4-trimethylpentane + alcohols at 298.15 K

Kinetic and thermodynamic study of beta-Boswellic acid interaction with Tau protein investigated by surface plasmon resonance and molecular modeling methods

Introduction: Beta-Boswellic acid (BBA) is a pentacyclic terpene which has been obtained from frankincense and its beneficial effects on neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have been addressed. Methods: In the present study, thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of BBA interaction with Tau protein as one of the important proteins involved in AD in the absence and presence of glucose has been investigated using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) method. Tau protein was immobilized onto the carboxy methyl dextran chip and its binding interactions with BBA were studied at physiological pH at various temperatures. Glucose interference with these interactions was also investigated. Results: Results showed that BBA forms a stable complex with Tau (KD=8.45×10-7 M) at 298 K. Molecular modeling analysis showed a hydrophobic interaction between BBA and HVPGGG segment of R2 and R4 repeated domains of Tau. Conclusion: The binding affinity increased by temperature enhancement, while it decreased significantly in the presence of glucose. Both association and dissociation of the BBA-Tau complex were accompanied with an entropic activation barrier; however, positive enthalpy and entropy changes revealed that hydrophobic bonding is the main force involved in the interaction

Long and Short-term Metformin Consumption as a Potential Therapy to Prevent Complications of COVID-19

Purpose: The aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of metformin in complication improvement of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Methods: This was a randomized clinical trial that involved 189 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection. Patients in the intervention group received metformin-500 mg twice daily. Patients who received metformin before admission were excluded from the control group. Patients who were discharged before taking at least 2000 mg of metformin were excluded from the study. Primary outcomes were vital signs, need for ICU admission, need for intubation, and mortality. Results: Data showed that patients with diabetes with previous metformin in their regimen had lower percentages of ICU admission and death in comparison with patients without diabetes (11.3% vs. 26.1% (P=0.014) and 4.9% vs. 23.9% (P≤0.001), respectively). Admission time characteristics were the same for both groups except for diabetes and hyperlipidemia, which were significantly different between the two groups. Observations of naproxen consumption on endpoints, duration of hospitalization, and the levels of spO2 did not show any significant differences between the intervention and the control group. The adjusted OR for intubation in the intervention group versus the control group was 0.21 [95% CI, 0.04-0.99 (P=0.047)]. Conclusion: In this trial, metformin consumption had no effect on mortality and ICU admission rates in non-diabetic patients. However, metformin improved COVID-19 complications in diabetic patients who had been receiving metformin prior to COVID-19 infection, and it significantly lowered the intubation rates

Study of interaction between nicotinamide and human serum albumin using spectroscopic techniques and molecular docking simulation simulation

Human serum albumin is one of the most important blood proteins that has the ability to bind a wide range of compounds and different drugs. Hence, knowing how drugs bind to albumin is crucial to understand their pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic properties. The binding of drugs to protein affects the drug's excretion, distribution and interaction in the target tissues. Nicotinamide (NA) is a safe and inexpensive medical supplement that used to prevent and treat vitamin B3 deficiency. In this research, the molecular mechanism of the interaction between nicotinamide and human serum albumin was studied by the utilization of spectroscopic and molecular docking methods. The effects of temperature, acidic/basic pHs, metal ions, urea, and glucose on the interaction between nicotinamide and human serum albumin were also investigated. The spectroscopic studies indicated that the interaction between nicotinamide and human serum albumin is mainly controled by hydrophobic forces and the interaction is spontaneous. The number of binding site and binding constant is 1 and 4.6×104 (L/mol), respectively, which were increased in the presence of glucose. The presence of metallic ions and basic pH decreased the binding constant of nicotinamide to albumin. The obtained results indicated that nicotinamide tend to binds to the similar sites wherever the molecules with acidic moieties bind. The results could be helpful to interpret the mechanisms of actions of nicotinamide in the various physiological phenomena in the human body

Solubility Prediction of Solutes in Non-Aqueous Binary Solvent Mixtures

Foi investigada a possibilidade de substituir os parâmetros de Abraham calculados teoricamente pelos parâmetros experimentais, na previsão da solubilidade de solutos não-aquoso em misturas de solventes binários, utilizando-se o modelo de Jouyban-Acree. As solubilidades de 90 conjuntos de dados, coletados a partir da literatura, foram preditas utilizando-se estes parâmetros, os coeficientes de solventes e também as solubilidades de sistemas mono-solventes. A precisão das solubilidades previstas foi avaliada calculando-se a média percentual do desvio (MPD) e também dos desvios percentuais (IPDs) individuais. O MPD global para a análise utilizando os parâmetros de Abraham, experimentais e teóricos, foram os mesmos e <14%. Uma boa distribuição (IPD) foi obtida por estas análises numéricas. Os conjuntos de dados investigados neste trabalho foram coletados a várias temperaturas e os resultados confirmaram a possibilidade de previsão da solubilidade em solventes binários a diferentes temperaturas. Explorou-se a possibilidade de cálculos ab initio nesta previsão utilizando as solubilidades calculadas em sistemas mono-solventes. No entanto, a diferença entre os valores previstos e observados, para os coeficientes dos solventes, aumentou para aproximadamente 60% e 200% quando usou-se gás e água, respectivamente. Estes, são valores muito grandes para várias aplicações de previsão. The possibility of replacing theoretically computed Abraham parameters with the experimental Abraham parameters in solubility prediction of solutes in non-aqueous binary solvent mixtures using the Jouyban-Acree model was investigated. The solubilities of 90 data sets collected from the literature were predicted using their Abraham parameters, the solvent coefficients and also the solubilities in mono-solvent systems. The accuracy of the predicted solubilities was evaluated by calculating the mean percentage deviation (MPD) and also individual percentage deviations (IPDs). The overall MPD for the analysis using experimental and computed Abraham parameters were the same and was < 14%. A favoured IPD distribution was obtained for these numerical analyses. The data sets investigated in this work were collected at various temperatures and the results confirmed the possibility of solubility prediction in binary solvents at various temperatures. We did explore the possibility of ab initio solubility prediction of solutes in binary mixtures using the calculated solubilities in mono-solvent systems, however, the difference between the predicted and observed values increased to ca. 60% for gas-to-solvent coefficients and ca. 200% for waterto-solvent coefficients, which is too large for many predictive applications