Anxiolytic effect of Anthemis nobilis L. (roman chamomile) and Citrus reticulata Blanco (tangerine) essential oils using the light-dark test in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The anxiety disorders are the most prevalent mental health condition, and anxiety is considered the sixth cause of disability surpassing diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and osteoarthritis. Besides, the COVID-19 pandemic provided an increase in the number of psychiatric diseases diagnosis in all social layers around the world. About 55%-94% of patients diagnosed with anxiety disorders are treated with benzodiazepines, meanwhile benzodiazepines can promote several adverse effects. In this way, alternative therapies, such as essential oils may offer significant benefits in the treatment of patients with anxiety disorders. However, the anxiolytic effect of these essential oils must be proper evaluated appropriate as well as the suitable dosage and side effect need further research. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim was to evaluate the anxiolytic effect of Roman chamomile (Anthemis nobilis L.) and tangerine (Citrus reticulata Blanco) essential oils using the light-dark test in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Both essential oils were analyzed by GC-MS and the major compounds were identified. The anxiolytic effect was evaluated by light-dark test in adult zebrafish. RESULTS: The results showed that roman chamomile essential oil has anxiolytic effect in adult zebrafish, whereas tangerine essential oil tends to reduce anxiety The major compounds of tangerine essential oil were limonene and γ-terpinene, and the major compounds of roman chamomile were pentadecyl-3-methyl-2-butenoate, hexadecyl-3-methyl-2-butenoate, 1-piperidinol and trans-1-ethyl-3-methyl-cyclopentane. CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated that this anxiolytic effect may be attributed to the synergistic effect of the compounds present in roman chamomile essential oil, particularly the major compounds. The roman chamomile essential oil at the highest concentration showed anxiolytic effect. The tangerine essential oil showed a tendency to reduce anxiety, but it was not statistically significative. In addition, roman chamomile and tangerine essential oils did not cause cause alteration in locomotion activity and exploratory ability of the fish.

Critical Issues of Working during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Italian Healthcare Workers' Experience.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has strongly impacted on healthcare services' organization and healthcare workers' mental health, increasing the risk of psychological symptoms and burnout. Italy has been one of the most affected countries, especially the northern regions, even with exceptions in some rural provinces. Aim: We chose to investigate the mental health conditions of healthcare workers operating in the rural province of Rovigo (a small town in Veneto, northern Italy), where relatively few deaths and contagions were reported during the pandemic, even if Veneto-globally-was one of the most affected regions of Italy. We wanted to verify the psychological outcomes of health workers operating in a context where the impact of the pandemic appeared to be relatively mild. Methods: Through an online survey, we investigated perceived difficulties at work and in daily life, perceived loneliness and social support, coping strategies, and level of psychological distress (sample size: 749; mean age = 48.04 years, SD = 10.66). The questionnaire had both open- (2) and close-ended questions (5 single-choice and 13 multiple-choice). We verified possible associations between sex, age group, work department and percentage of responses with chi-square tests of independence on each question. Data cleaning excluded all contradictory answers from the multiple-choice questions from the analyses (final sample size: 640). Results: Frontliners and non-frontliners reported a similar experience of the COVID-19 pandemic (without significant differences in perceived difficulties, coping strategies and sources of support). Nevertheless, they still reported various forms of negative emotions (e.g., helplessness-40.94%; sadness-36.56%; frustration-32.66%) and lack of support from the health organization (especially frontliners-28.72%). However, psychological help was scarcely requested. Conclusions: Despite the province not being massively affected by the pandemic, healthcare workers felt the need for clearer and more supportive guidance. They seem to perceive collective opportunities to share needs and difficulties as more useful than individual interventions (as those provided by the ad hoc created listening service).

Caring for Caregivers: Italian Health Care Workers' Needs during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Aim: An online survey was proposed to the health workers of a public hospital of an Italian northern city. This was done with the aim of assessing the unmet needs of a special population under strain (the health carers) due to the fight against the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). Results: By answering the survey, five hundred and nine people provided their observations, complaints and suggestions. This qualitative material was organised into three main areas: (1) relationship with the health organization management; (2) needs of the health workers; and (3) perceived consequences of the pandemic. Discussion: Overall, respondents expressed dissatisfaction for the unpreparedness of their health units and the confusion created by frequent changes in operational guidelines. Many participants felt abandoned, unheard and unprotected by the health organization, whilst the psychological support service formally set up by the hospital for its health workers was grossly under-utilised. Instead, support from colleagues and family constituted the main protective factor to counteract negative emotions. Restrictions in social contacts and recreational opportunities were frequently mentioned. Several respondents reported a sense of pride for their work and commitment; many others saw in the pandemic an opportunity for personal growth and better focus on important life values, like family and solidarity.

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D measurement: Comparative evaluation of three automated immunoassays.

OBJECTIVES: the different analytical methods for measurement of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) are not yet fully harmonized and no consensus exists on a threshold of 25(OH)D defining a deficiency status. In this study, we compared the results from the assays of serum 25(OH)D performed with three different methods to evaluate the presence of potential biases and how much these biases can influence the assignment of patients to specific 25(OH)D deficiency/sufficiency categories. DESIGN AND METHODS: Liaison 25(OH) Vitamin D Total (DiaSorin Liaison XL), Elecsys Vitamin D Total II (Roche Elecsys) and Lumipulse G25(OH) Vitamin D (Fujirebio Lumipulse G1200) were used. Methods comparability was established performing Passing-Bablok regression and Bland-Altman analysis to prove whether the differences found were lower than the preliminarily pre-established maximum acceptable bias. RESULTS: all Passing-Bablok regressions exhibited the presence of a proportional and constant systematic error. Bland-Altman analysis revealed biases well above the maximum acceptable bias, so the 25(OH)D concentrations measured were not comparable. To evaluate whether the three methods had the same ability to classify patients into different categories of vitamin D levels, we categorized results obtained by each method in reference classes. Lumipulse categorized most patients into the class with the lowest 25(OH)D concentrations (<20 ng/mL) whereas Elecsys ranked the lowest number. CONCLUSIONS: Liaison XL and Elecsys have shown good accuracy compared to Lumipulse in measuring 25(OH)D levels. Nevertheless, the assays were not interchangeable due to the lack of comparability of results as well as to the disagreement in classification of hormone deficiency or sufficiency.