Green thumb 2.0: a new resource for active aging

The horticulture can positively affect the well-being of older people, counteracting physical and cognitive decline and improving the overall quality of life. Modern technologies provide valuable support to encourage such activities and promote an active lifestyle. The present study aims to evaluate the effects of community horticultural activities, supported by a digital platform, in a mixed sample of participants aged over 60 years in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants took part in a six-month study, divided into two periods. During the first three months, participants just completed a set of questionnaires investigating the following psychological variables: self-esteem, loneliness, depression, quality of life, affects, social support and cognitive functioning. In the following three months, participants were involved in a digital-supported horticulture program, which was followed by the detection of the same psychological variables. The effects of horticulture were evaluated by comparing surveys responses at the two timepoints. The results show an improvement in the quality of life, in cognitive functions and, to a lesser extent, in subjective well-being of participants. Participants who are married or cohabiting generally show a better quality of life, and after intervention are less likely to express negative emotional states. There was no evidence of depression. Digitally assisted horticulture can improve the quality of life of the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Copyright © FrancoAngeli.

A UHPLC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous quantification of the anti-COVID-19 drugs remdesivir, molnupiravir and their active metabolites in human plasma

COVID-19 emergency required the development of specific therapeutic choices, especially for patient at higher risk to have a worst prognosis. Among the first and most widely used antivirals are remdesivir (RDV) and molnupiravir (MPV): these are both nucleoside analogs prodrugs, capable to inhibit viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase by strand termination and a "mutational catastrophe", respectively. While RDV is only available for intravenous use in hospital, MPV is an oral drug, allowing domestic use. The circulating active metabolites of these drugs, GS-441524 and H-hydroxycitidine (NHC), respectively, are considered for the description of their pharmacokinetics (PK) and are related to their antiviral effect. Nevertheless, PK characteristics of RDV, MPV and their metabolites in the real-life use are still poorly explored, particularly due to the lack of validated methods for their quantification in human matrices. Therefore, in this work, we aimed at validating a fast, reliable and rugged ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/ MS) method for the simultaneous quantification of these prodrugs and their active metabolites in human plasma, following FDA and EMA guidelines. Sample preparation consisted in a protein precipitation protocol: 50 muL of plasma are added with 50 muL of a solution of isotope-labeled internal standards (IS) in water:methanol (50:50 v:v) and, then, with 400 muL of a mixture of acetonitrile:methanol (50:50 v:v), vortex mixed and centrifuged. After drying at 40 degreeC in vacuum centrifuge (1 h), the extracts are reconstituted with water 0.2% formic acid.Then, 5 muL of the extracts undergo UHPLC separation with a gradient run of water (Phase A) and acetonitrile:methanol 50:50 (v:v, Phase B), both with 0.2% of formic acid at 40degreeC in a core-shell reverse-phase column (Kinetex polar C18, 2.1x100 mm, 2.6 mum). The total runtime is 5 minutes and drug detection is performed by MRM, with 2 specific transitions for each compound and IS. The method fulfilled the requirements from FDA and EMA guidelines in terms of accuracy, precision, recovery, matrix effect, stability and it was applied to samples from a small cohort of patients treated with these drugs, confirming its eligibility for research and clinical use.

Data on the stability of darunavir/cobicistat suspension after tablet manipulation.

The COVID-19 outbreak is now one of the most critical crises to manage for most of the national healthcare systems in the world. In the absence of authorised pharmacological treatments, many antiretrovirals, including darunavir/cobicistat fixed combination, are used off-label in the hospital wards as life-treating medicines for COVID-19 patients. Unfortunately, for most of them, the drug products available on the market are not designed to be administered by a nasogastric tube to inpatients of intensive care units. Therefore, their manipulation, even if it can strongly affect the product quality, is necessary for the preparation of suspension to meet patients' need. In this situation, it is urgent to provide data and guidance to support hospital pharmacists and clinicians in their activity. The data in this article indicate that darunavir/cobicistat suspensions compounded by pharmacists using as active ingredient a commercially available tablet can be stable at least for one week.

Olfactory epithelium histopathological findings in long-term coronavirus disease 2019 related anosmia.

BACKGROUND: Olfactory dysfunction represents one of the most frequent symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019, affecting about 70 per cent of patients. However, the pathogenesis of the olfactory dysfunction in coronavirus disease 2019 has not yet been elucidated. CASE REPORT: This report presents the radiological and histopathological findings of a patient who presented with anosmia persisting for more than three months after infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2. CONCLUSION: The biopsy demonstrated significant disruption of the olfactory epithelium. This shifts the focus away from invasion of the olfactory bulb and encourages further studies of treatments targeted at the surface epithelium.

Data on compounding lopinavir and ritonavir suspension for non-cooperative COVID-19 patients.

The COVID-19 outbreak is now one of the most critical crises to manage for most of national healthcare systems in the world. The situation is complicated by the absence of vaccines and authorized pharmacological treatments, except for remdesivir. In this context, many medicaments, including different Ebola and HIV antivirals, are used off-label in the hospital wards as life-treating medicines for COVID-19 patients. Authorized medicaments manipulation is sometimes necessary because they are not always formulated to be administered to non-cooperative patients or they are in shortage. It is this the case of the fixed combination of lopinavir/ritonavir, which was extensively used in the first phase of the outbreak inducing a shortage of the oral solution available in the EU market. This work provides data on size distribution, osmolarity other than drug chemical stability of a lopinavir/ritonavir extemporaneous preparation made by using the solid dosage form (i.e., tablet) available on the market as drug source. The reported data indicate that such preparation is suitable to be delivered through a nasogastric tube, and enough stable for two weeks from the preparation at room temperature.