Resveratrol and Immune Cells: A Link to Improve Human Health

The use of polyphenols as adjuvants in lowering risk factors for various debilitating diseases has been investigated in recent years due to their possible antioxidant action. Polyphenols represent a fascinating and relatively new subject of research in nutraceuticals and nutrition, with interest rapidly expanding since they can help maintain health by controlling metabolism, weight, chronic diseases, and cell proliferation. Resveratrol is a phenolic compound found mostly in the pulp, peels, seeds, and stems of red grapes. It has a wide variety of biological actions that can be used to prevent the beginning of various diseases or manage their symptoms. Resveratrol can influence multiple inflammatory and non-inflammatory responses, protecting organs and tissues, thanks to its interaction with immune cells and its activity on SIRT1. This compound has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-apoptotic, neuroprotective, cardioprotective, anticancer, and antiviral properties, making it a potential adjunct to traditional pharmaceutical therapy in public health. This review aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of resveratrol in terms of active biological effects and mechanism of action in modifying the immune cellular response to promote human psychophysical health.

Cerebrospinal fluid formation is controlled by membrane transporters to modulate intracranial pressure

Disturbances in the brain fluid balance can lead to life-threatening elevation in the intracranial pressure (ICP), which represents a vast clinical challenge. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms governing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) secretion are largely unresolved, thus preventing targeted and efficient pharmaceutical therapy of cerebral pathologies involving elevated ICP. Here, we employed experimental rats to demonstrate low osmotic water permeability of the choroid plexus, lack of an osmotic gradient across this tissue, and robust CSF secretion against osmotic gradients. Together, these results illustrate that CSF secretion occurs independently of conventional osmosis, which challenges the existing assumption that CSF production is driven entirely by bulk osmotic forces across the CSF-secreting choroid plexus. Instead, we reveal that the choroidal Na+/K+/Cl− cotransporter NKCC1, Na+/HCO3− cotransporter NBCe2, and Na+/K+-ATPase are actively involved in CSF production and propose a molecular mode of water transport supporting CSF production in this secretory tissue. Further, we demonstrate that inhibition of NKCC1 directly reduces the ICP, illustrating that altered CSF secretion may be employed as a strategy to modulate ICP. These insights identify new promising therapeutic targets against brain pathologies associated with elevated ICP.

Guiding Light: The Architecture of Sleep for Dementia

<p>Disruptive sleeping behaviours are a key symptom of dementia that accelerates transition from the home towards full time institutional care. For thousands of families in New Zealand, respite facilities offer a temporary relief from this symptom in an attempt to prolong care at home. However the predominant use of pharmaceutical therapy coupled with unstimulating care environments leads to sleeping behaviours deteriorating upon returning home. In order to provide an alternative approach to pharmaceutical therapy and research towards treating disruptive sleep behaviour, this thesis addresses pre-existing inter-disciplinary literature, field trips, international precedents and an iterative method of design to investigate: How can the architecture of a respite facility improve sleeping behaviours and instigate meaningful environmental research within dementia care? Environmental strategies involving light, movement and community were identified as key objectives towards improving sleep behaviour within the design. Introducing a shared courtyard with the public that facilitated continuous movement alongside the circadian rhythms of the sun, allowed a design that would engage with all three objectives in order to improve sleep behaviour of residents with mild symptoms of dementia. As symptoms progress, the adoption of an artificial lighting environment in a purpose built sleep lab allowed a space for scientific enquiry to the nature and treatment of sleep for those with later stages of dementia. The final design integrates both natural and artificial environments into a single respite facility, strengthening its therapeutic potential to prolong home care for the thousands of families affected by dementia in New Zealand.</p>

Guiding Light: The Architecture of Sleep for Dementia

<p>Disruptive sleeping behaviours are a key symptom of dementia that accelerates transition from the home towards full time institutional care. For thousands of families in New Zealand, respite facilities offer a temporary relief from this symptom in an attempt to prolong care at home. However the predominant use of pharmaceutical therapy coupled with unstimulating care environments leads to sleeping behaviours deteriorating upon returning home. In order to provide an alternative approach to pharmaceutical therapy and research towards treating disruptive sleep behaviour, this thesis addresses pre-existing inter-disciplinary literature, field trips, international precedents and an iterative method of design to investigate: How can the architecture of a respite facility improve sleeping behaviours and instigate meaningful environmental research within dementia care? Environmental strategies involving light, movement and community were identified as key objectives towards improving sleep behaviour within the design. Introducing a shared courtyard with the public that facilitated continuous movement alongside the circadian rhythms of the sun, allowed a design that would engage with all three objectives in order to improve sleep behaviour of residents with mild symptoms of dementia. As symptoms progress, the adoption of an artificial lighting environment in a purpose built sleep lab allowed a space for scientific enquiry to the nature and treatment of sleep for those with later stages of dementia. The final design integrates both natural and artificial environments into a single respite facility, strengthening its therapeutic potential to prolong home care for the thousands of families affected by dementia in New Zealand.</p>

Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture Vs. Hormone Therapy for Menopausal Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Menopausal syndrome (MPS) is a common gynecological disorder around the time of menopause, and hormone therapy (HT) is the first-line treatment for it. However, HT is prone to cause adverse reactions in MPS patients treated with HT. Acupuncture is a popular non-pharmaceutical therapy for MPS, but the differences in the efficacy and safety between acupuncture and HT remain unclear. The purpose of this evidence-based study is to address this issue. Five databases were searched for potentially eligible RCTs. All RCTs comparing acupuncture with HT in the treatment of MPS were included in this study. The clinical effective rate was the primary outcome. Kupperman index, serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol (E[Formula: see text], and side effects were the secondary outcomes. A total of 15 RCTs recruiting 1376 MPS patients were included. Results of meta-analysis showed that compared with HT, acupuncture significantly improved clinical effective rate (RR = 1.09, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.16, [Formula: see text] = 0.005), decreased the Kupperman index (WMD = −2.55, 95% CI = −2.93 to −2.17, [Formula: see text] < 0.00001) and the incidence of side effects (RR = 0.14, 95% CI = 0.06–0.32, [Formula: see text] < 0.00001). There were no statistically significant differences in serum FSH (WMD = −1.36, 95% CI = −3.25–0.53, [Formula: see text] = 0.16), E2(WMD = −1.11, 95% CI = −2.59–0.37, [Formula: see text] = 0.14), or LH (WMD = −1.87, 95% CI = −4.58–0.83, [Formula: see text] = 0.17) between the acupuncture and HT groups. Based on the current evidence, manual acupuncture is safer and more effective than HT and is recommended for the treatment of MPS, but the evidence for the efficacy of other types of acupuncture is inconclusive.

Recent Advances in Biodistribution, Preclinical and Clinical Applications of Radiolabelled Iodine

Adequate understanding of radiopharmaceutical distribution in the body of the patient has both spatial and temporal characteristics and they are the key factor to consider when planning successful radio pharmaceutical therapy, because they are an integral part of the radiation dosimetry calculations of any proposed personalized treatment. In this chapter we will focus on radioiodine therapy for thyroid cancer patients since it is a widely known practice in clinical oncology. Factors affecting the radioiodine organs’ distribution will be examined in sufficient details using the available published research in the scientific literature. The literature will be reviewed extensively and summarized in this chapter. Another aim is to provide the medical practitioners with a quick reference guide to this clinically important area of expertise; often mastered by medical physicists with background in radiation physics, mathematics and medical imaging analysis. This chapter will cover recent advances in the area of radioiodine biodistribution modeling with applications in preclinical and clinical studies.

Recent and Relevant Methodology in the Advancement of Solid Dispersion

Most of the promising drugs in development channels are poorly water-soluble drugs which limit formulation approaches, clinical application because of their low dissolution and bioavailability. And the major current challenges of the pharmaceutical industry are apropos strategies that improve the water solubility of drugs. Solid dispersion has been considered one of the major evolutions in overcoming these issues with several successfully marketed products. Though solid dispersion has been outlined as an efficient drug delivery system, the design of specific dosage forms for pharmaceutical therapy is necessary to improve the solubility and bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs. Solid dispersion can be prepared by several methods such as solvent evaporation, melting, and supercritical fluid technology. This review intends to provide an updated overview of the recent trends over the past few years in solid dispersion preparation techniques and polymer used. Along with the various pharmaceutical strategies and future visions for the solubilization of poorly water-soluble drugs Keywords: Solid dispersion, Bioavailability, Solubility, Dissolution parameters, Polymeric carrier

A pharmaceutical therapy recommender system enabling shared decision-making

Data-based clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) can provide personalized support in medical applications. Such systems are expected to play an increasingly important role in the future of healthcare. Within this work, we demonstrate an exemplary CDSS which provides individualized pharmaceutical drug recommendations to physicians and patients. The core of the proposed system is a neighborhood-based collaborative filter (CF) that yields data-based recommendations. CFs are capable of integrating data at different scale levels and a multivariate outcome measure. This publication provides a detailed literature review, a holistic comparison of various implementations of CF algorithms, and a prototypical graphical user interface (GUI). We show that similarity measures, which automatically adapt to attribute weights and data distribution perform best. The illustrated user-friendly prototype is intended to graphically facilitate explainable recommendations and provide additional evidence-based information tailored to a target patient. The proposed solution or elements of it, respectively, may serve as a template for future CDSSs that support physicians to identify the most appropriate therapy and enable a shared decision-making process between physicians and patients.

Therapeutic Effect of Infra-Low-Frequency Neurofeedback Training on Children and Adolescents with ADHD

In this observational study the outcomes of an EEG-based infra-low-frequency (ILF) neurofeedback intervention on patients with attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder (ADHD) are presented. The question is addressed whether this computer-aided treatment, which uses a brain-computer-interface to alleviate the clinical symptoms of mental disorders, is an effective non-pharmaceutical therapy for ADHD in childhood and adolescence. In a period of about 15 weeks 196 ADHD patients were treated with about 30 sessions of ILF neurofeedback in an ambulant setting. Besides regular evaluation of the severity of clinical symptoms, a continuous performance test (CPT) for parameters of attention and impulse control was conducted before and after the neurofeedback treatment. During and after the therapy, the patients did not only experience a substantial reduction in the severity of their ADHD-typical clinical symptoms, but also their performance in a continuous test procedure was significantly improved for all examined parameters of attention and impulse control, like response time, variability of reaction time, omission errors and commission errors. In a post neurofeedback intervention assessment 97% of patients reported improvement in symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity or impulsivity. Only 3% of the patients claimed no noticeable alleviation of ADHD-related symptoms. These results suggest that ILF neurofeedback is a clinically effective method that can be considered as a treatment option for ADHD and might help reducing or even avoiding psychotropic medication.

PHARMACOLOGICAL VIEW ON THE PROBLEM OF COMORBIDITY IN THE PHARMACOTHERAPY OF CHRONIC PANCREATITIS

The article presents the results of the research concerning the pharmacotherapy of patients with chronic pancreatitis with comorbidity from the pharmacological view. During the study pharmacological approach to the problem of comorbidity among patients with chronic pancreatitis was analyzed. A survey among doctors and pharmacists was used during the research along with normative and legal, documentary, retrospective, bibliographic, systemic, forensic-pharmaceutical, sociological (questionnaire survey), comparative, graphic, mathematical analysis methods. The most common comorbid diseases that patients suffer from alongside with chronic pancreatitis were highlighted. Authors came to conclusion, that development of safe and affordable pharmaceutical therapy for patients with chronic pancreatitis and comorbidity is very important.