Summary
The current coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) pandemic caused by novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) has a male bias in severity and mortality. This is consistent ...with previous coronavirus pandemics such as SARS‐CoV and MERS‐CoV, and viral infections in general. Here, we discuss the sex‐disaggregated epidemiological data for COVID‐19 and highlight underlying differences that may explain the sexual dimorphism to help inform risk stratification strategies and therapeutic options.
Taming carboxylic acids: ortho‐Iodo‐ and ortho‐bromophenylboronic acids are exceptional organocatalysts in atom‐economical amidations between free carboxylic acids and amines, including ...functionalized ones, and can also provide LUMO‐lowering activation in 4+2 cycloadditions of α,β‐unsaturated carboxylic acids.
The importance of amides as a component of biomolecules and synthetic products motivates the development of catalytic, direct amidation methods employing free carboxylic acids and amines that ...circumvent the need for stoichiometric activation or coupling reagents. ortho-Iodophenylboronic acid 4a has recently been shown to catalyze direct amidation reactions at room temperature in the presence of 4A molecular sieves as dehydrating agent. Herein, the arene core of ortho-iodoarylboronic acid catalysts has been optimized with regards to the electronic effects of ring substitution. Contrary to the expectation, it was found that electron-donating substituents are preferable, in particular, an alkoxy substituent positioned para to the iodide. The optimal new catalyst, 5-methoxy-2-iodophenylboronic acid (MIBA, 4f), was demonstrated to be kinetically more active than the parent des-methoxy catalyst 4a, providing higher yields of amide products in shorter reaction times under mild conditions at ambient temperature. Catalyst 4f is recyclable and promotes the formation of amides from aliphatic carboxylic acids and amines, and from heteroaromatic carboxylic acids and other functionalized substrates containing moieties like a free phenol, indole and pyridine. Mechanistic studies demonstrated the essential role of molecular sieves in this complex amidation process. The effect of substrate stoichiometry, concentration, and measurement of the catalyst order led to a possible catalytic cycle based on the presumed formation of an acylborate intermediate. The need for an electronically enriched ortho-iodo substituent in catalyst 4f supports a recent theoretical study (Marcelli, T. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 6840–6843) with a purported role for the iodide as a hydrogen-bond acceptor in the orthoaminal transition state.
Defeating cancer is the ultimate challenge and goal of oncologists, facing various obstacles along with finding effective anti-cancer therapies and understanding drug delivery mechanisms. ...Additionally, the translation of the experimental findings to the clinical outcomes such as specificity, delivery, toxicity, clearance, and bioavailability is another health concern. Nanomedicine is a branch of nanotechnology that has been drastically developed in the last decades. Due to the fact of various nanomaterial formulas, different nanomedicine drug delivery tactics have been developed as anti-cancer therapies. The most effective and less toxic approaches involved the active targeting drug delivery tactic, which relies on the recognition of the drug nanoparticle carriers and the cell surface marker. Accordingly, FDA approved such a group of nanomedicine drug delivery systems while other formulas are still under the clinical trial phases. Nanomedicine is showing a bright future in the treatment of cancer. Oncologists learned from cancer research the possible drug resistance that could be developed. Consequently, researchers need to be prepared for the possible adverse effect of the nanomedicine approach.
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•The description of currently used nanoparticles, their structure and their efficacy in cancer treatment.•The advantages of drug delivery systems, overcoming the challenges of chemotherapy, toxicity and target tissue approaching.•The description of the nanoparticle’s cytotoxicity and the current challenges of applying nanomedicine in cancer therapy.•Exploring the clinically approved nanoparticles drug delivery systems.•Discussion of the possible chances of cancer defeating using nanotechnology approaches.
Testosterone and Covid‐19: An update Yassin, Aksam; Sabsigh, Ridwan; Al‐Zoubi, Raed M. ...
Reviews in medical virology,
January 2023, Letnik:
33, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that male gender is at a higher risk of developing more severe Covid‐19 disease and thus having poorer clinical outcomes. However, the relationship between ...testosterone (T) and Covid‐19 remains unclear with both protective and deleterious effects on different aspects of the disease suggested. Here, we review the current epidemiological and biological evidence on the role of testosterone in the process of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and in mediating Covid‐19 severity, its potential to serve as a biomarker for risk stratification and discuss the possibility of T supplementation as a treatment or preventative therapy for Covid‐19.
Background and Aims
Throughout the COVID‐19 lockdown, the resultant psychological disturbances led to more tobacco consumption and deteriorated smoking behaviors among smokers. In this study, we ...aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on the smoking behaviors of the Jordanian population.
Methods
A cross‐sectional online survey was designed using the Google Forms service and distributed by social media platforms. Responses were collected starting from November 12, 2020, until November 24, 2020.
Results
A total of 2511 respondents completed the survey, 77.3% were females. Males were significantly smoking more than females (p < 0.0001). Smoking was significantly more common among respondents who were older than 18 years old, married, held master's and PhD degrees, and working in non‐health‐related fields (p < 0.0001). Participants who smoke were more likely to adopt an unhealthy lifestyle during the pandemic. Females who started smoking last year were 2.6‐fold more than males (p < 0.0001). We also noticed that there is a significant relationship between those who started smoking and are <18 years, living in a family consisting of seven members or more, being unemployed, having a diploma or bachelor's degree in a health‐related major, having no chronic illnesses, increasing of daily meals or night meals, almost daily sugar intake, starting to follow social media account concerning physical activity, exercising once or twice a week, and sleeping more hours per day since the beginning of the pandemic (p < 0.01).
Conclusion
The results of our study showed that the lockdown had a significant impact on people's lifestyles including smoking habits. Most of our sample's smoker participants experienced a change in their smoking level mostly, an increase. While those who had a decrease in their smoking level experienced a somehow healthier lifestyle regarding nutrition and other aspects.
Highlights
Respondents started smoking (22.4%) during the COVID‐19 year, mostly among females and singles.
Respondents increased their tobacco consumption (45.4%) during the pandemic while 25.7% tried to smoke less or quit smoking.
Smokers were more likely to adopt an unhealthy lifestyle during the lockdown compared to nonsmokers.
Respondents who had a decrease in their smoking level experienced a somehow healthier lifestyle regarding nutrition.
Free time, stress, and psychological factors were the main reasons for changing their smoking habits during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
Fentanyl, a fully synthetic opioid, is widely used for severe pain management and has a huge abuse potential for its psychostimulant effects. Unlike other opioids, the neurotoxic effects of chronic ...fentanyl administration are still unclear. In particular, little is known about its effect on the cerebral cortex. The current study aims to test the chronic toxicity of fentanyl in the mice model.
Adult male Balb/c mice were chronically treated with low (0.05 mg/kg, i.p) and high (0.1 mg/kg, i.p) doses of fentanyl for 5 consecutive weeks, and various neurotoxic parameters, including apoptosis, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammatory response were assessed in the cortex. Potential histological as well as neurochemical changes were also evaluated.
The results of this study show that chronic fentanyl administration induced intense levels of apoptosis, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation in the cerebral cortex. These findings were found to be correlated with histopathological characteristics of neural degeneration and white matter injury. Moreover, fentanyl administration was found to reduce the expression of both NMDA receptor subunits and dopamine receptors and elevate the level of epidermal growth factor (EGF).
Fentanyl administration induced neurotoxic effects in the mouse cerebral cortex that could be primarily mediated by the evoked oxidative-inflammatory response. The altered expression of NMDA receptors, dopamine receptors, and EGF suggests the pernicious effects of fentanyl addiction that may end in the development of toxic psychosis.
•Chronic Fentanyl administration induces massive oxidative stress and inflammation in the cerebral cortex.•Fentanyl is also associated with increased apoptosis in the cerebral cortex.•Fentanyl induces neural degeneration and white matter injury in the brain.•Fentanyl alters the expression of NMDA receptors, dopamine receptors, and epidermal growth factor in the cerebral cortex.
CAG trinucleotide repeats are coded for the polyglutamine tract in the N‐terminal of the androgen receptor (AR) gene which varies in normal individuals from 6 to 36 residues. In this study, we ...inspected the impact of the CAG repeats on the spermatogenic defects by measuring the size of AR‐CAG repeats length in a cohort of 260infertile and 169 fertile Jordanian men. The infertile group included three subgroups of a zoospermic, oligozoospermic and teratozoospermia men. The CAG allele size was determined by direct sequencing. The results showed a significant association between the length of the AR‐CAG repeats and men's infertility (p = .001). In particular, the current cohort demonstrated a significant association between the AR‐CAG length polymorphism and oligozoospermia (p < .001) and teratozoospermia (p < .001) but not azoospermia. According to distributions of allele frequency, the risk of oligozoospermia was 5.5‐fold greater than normal when alleles frequency > 20 repeats, while the risk of teratozoospermia was > 10.6 folds greater than normal when allele frequency > 22 repeats. In conclusion, our results underscored that the long repeats of the AR‐CAG polymorphism within the normal range might be associated with abnormal spermatogenesis such as teratozoospermia and oligozoospermia and contributing to infertility in Jordanian men.
A series of iodinated benzoboroxoles was designed and synthesized by using a successive metal–iodine exchange reaction of 3,4,5‐triiodoanisole. The reactivity and regioselectivity of the metal‐iodine ...exchange are remarkably controlled and provide the iodinated products in good yields. The synthesized iodobenzoboroxoles were screened for in vitro antimicrobial activity against two Gram‐positive strains of bacteria, Micrococcus luteus (ATCC 9341) and Bacillus cereus (ATCC 11778), and two Gram‐negative strains, Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Serratia marcescens (ATCC 27117), by using a well‐diffusion assay and dilution methods. The in vitro antimicrobial evaluation indicated that 4‐iodo‐6‐methoxybenzoc1,2oxaborol‐1(3H)‐ol (compound 24) possesses the most‐potent antibacterial activity against Gram‐positive strains with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.016 and 0.013 mg/mL for Micrococcus luteus and Bacillus cereus, respectively. This report discloses a two‐step protocol for the synthesis of hitherto unknown 4‐iodobenzoboroxole and 7‐iodobenzoboroxole derivatives that is efficient, general in scope and scalable.
This report discloses a facile method for the synthesis of 7‐iodo‐5‐methoxybenzoboroxole and 4‐iodo‐5‐methoxybenzoboroxole derivatives in only two steps by a successive metal–iodine exchange reaction of 3,4,5‐triiodoanisole that is efficient, general in scope and scalable.
Key Clinical Message
In an 18‐year‐old, Meckel's diverticulum and a rare vitellointestinal fibrous band caused bowel obstruction. Clinicians should be vigilant for such anomalies, especially in young ...adults with virgin abdomens, as potential sources of intestinal obstruction.
In this case report, we highlight the rarity of vitellointestinal or omphalomesenteric duct anomalies causing intestinal obstruction in the adult population. The patient, an 18‐year‐old male, presented to the emergency department with a two‐day history of abdominal pain and vomiting. Physical examination revealed mild distension of his virgin abdomen with generalized tenderness. Abdominal X‐ray displayed dilated small bowel loops, and a computed tomography scan indicated features consistent with closed‐loop bowel obstruction. Diagnostic laparoscopy confirmed a vitellointestinal duct remnant as the cause of the small intestinal obstruction, involving a combined Meckel's diverticulum and vitellointestinal fibrous band. In early fetal development, the vitellointestinal duct communicates between the midgut and the yolk sac, expected to disappear during fetal growth. Failure to obliterate can lead to issues such as intestinal blockage, primarily observed in children, making occurrences in adults, as in this case, infrequent with only a few documented instances. Despite its uncommon occurrence in young adults, healthcare providers should consider the vitellointestinal duct anomalous remnant as a potential source of intestinal obstruction, particularly in individuals with a virgin abdomen. Early detection of intestinal obstruction is imperative for patient survival, facilitating prompt management and minimizing the risk of serious morbidities, ultimately contributing to a better patient outcome.
Unusual laparoscopic management: intestinal obstruction in a young adult.
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